
Class JLJjf&ZjS 
Book 



Copyright}] . 



*?- 



COPYRIGHT DEPOSIT; 



ALDINE 
FIRST LANGUAGE BOOK 

A MANUAL FOR TEACHERS 



BY 

FRANK Ei SPAULDING 

SUPERINTENDENT OF SCHOOLS, NEWTON, MASS. 
AND 

CATHERINE T. BRYCE 

SUPERVISOR OF PRIMARY SCHOOLS, NEWTON, MASS. 



NEWSON & COMPANY 

NEW YORK 






Copyright, 1913, by 
NEWSON & COMPANY. 



A II rights reserved* 



1377 



©CI.A332179 



CONTENTS 



Introduction 



Chapter One 

I. Reading 

II. Teaching Pupils to Study 

III. Conversation: Questions and Answers 

IV. Dramatizing the Fable, " Grand Tusk and 
V. Oral Reproduction of the Story 

VI. Finishing a Story 
VII. Oral Reproduction and Completion 

Story 

VIII. Telling Original Stories . 
IX. Reading a Story in a Picture . 
Supplementary Work 
X. More Picture Stories 
XI. Learning to Describe 
XII. Games of Description 

XIII. Getting the Story from the Poem, 

and the Squirrel " 

XIV. Telling the Story of the Poem . 



Nimble M 



of Uncompleted 



PAGE 

i 



9 
ii 

14 

16 
18 

20 
21 

23 
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"The Mountain 



Chapter Two 

I. 

II. 

III. 

IV. 

V 

VI 

VII 



VIII. 



Reading 

Studying the Story of the Linden 

Conversation and Dramatizing . 

Oral Reproduction of the Story of the Linden 

Telling True Stories 

Sentences, Capitals, Statements, and Periods 
Copying Sentences to Learn the Use of Capitals and 

Period • 
Studied Dictation for Drill in Use of Capitals and 

Period • 

iii 



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34 

35 
36 

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5° 



IV 



CONTENTS 



Use of Capitals 



IX. Unstudied Dictation to Test the Use of Capitals 

and Period 
X. Questions and the Question Mark 
XI. Copying Questions to Learn the 

and the Question Mark . 
XII. Using Capitals and the Period 

XIII. Picture Stories 

Supplementary Work 

XIV. More Picture Stories 

Supplementary Work 
XV. Telling True Stories 

XVI. Studying the Poem, "Spring Waking" . 
XVII. Part Reading and Dramatizing the Poem 
XVIII. Learning to Tell a Story .... 
XIX. Oral Reproductions 

Chapter Three 

I. Reading the Story, "Mabel and the Fairy Folk" 
II. Dramatizing "Mabel and the Fairy Folk" 

III. Oral Questions ..... 

Supplementary Work .... 

IV. Writing Questions ..... 

Supplementary Work .... 
V. How Titles are Written .... 

VI. Copying a Story 

VII. Dictation : " The Trees and the Woodcutter" 

VIII. Copying Titles 

Supplementary Work .... 
IX. Writing Titles from Dictation 

Supplementary Work .... 
X. Giving Titles to Pictures 

XI. Picture Stories 

Supplementary Work .... 
XII. More Picture Stories .... 

XIII. Telling True Stories .... 

XIV. A Class Exercise in Written Reproduction 

Supplementary Work .... 
XV. Copying Story from the Board 



CONTENTS 



XVI. Studying a Poem . 
XVII. Writing a Stanza from Memory 



Chapter Four 



I. 



II. 

III. 

IV. 

V. 
VI. 

VII. 

VIII. 

IX. 

X. 



XI. 

XII. 
XIII. 

XIV. 

XV. 

XVI. 

XVII. 

XVIII. 



Study and Oral Reproduction of the Fable, " The 
Four Oxen " . 

Supplementary Work . 
Their and There . 

Supplementary Work . 
Writing the Story, " The Four Oxen 

Supplementary Work . 
The Use of Capitals in Writing the Names of Per 

sons .... 

The Game of Names 
Writing Names . ... 

Supplementary Work . 
Copying .... 

Dictation .... 
The Use of Two, Too, and To 

Supplementary Work . 
Dictation to Drill and Test the Use of Too, To 
Their, and There 

Supplementary Work . 
Enlarging a Story for Dramatizing ; 

tory Study 
Enlarging a Story for Dramatizing 
Dramatizing the Story, " The First 

Supplementary Work 
Picture Stories 

Supplementary Work 
More Picture Stories 

Supplementary Work 
Telling True Stories 
Studying a Poem . 
Telling a Story from a Poem 



Chapter Five 

I. 

II. Studying the Story, " The Little White Flower " 



Reading 



Pupils' Prepara 

Class Exercise 
Buttercups " 



84 
85 
86 

87 
89 
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90 

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94 

94 

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96 

96 
96 

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99 

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100 

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109 

109 
no 



VI 



CONTENTS 



III. 

IV. 

V. 

VI. 

VII. 

VIII. 

IX. 

X. 

XI. 
XII. 

XIII. 

XIV. 

XV. 

Chapter 

I. 
II. 

III. 

IV. 

V. 

VI. 

VII. 

VIII. 

IX. 

X. 

XI. 

XII. 

XIII. 

XIV. 



Conversation and Dramatizing . 

Oral Reproduction 

Quotations . . . . ... 

Supplementary Work .... 
Copying to Learn the Writing of Quotations 
Dictation to Teach the Writing of Quotations 
Finishing a Story Orally .... 

Supplementary Work .... 
Finishing a Story in Writing 

Supplementary Work .... 
Words that can be Used in Place of Said . 
Questions for You ..... 
Picture Stories 

Supplementary Work .... 
More Picture Stories .... 

Supplementary Work .... 
Studying a Poem 

Supplementary Work .... 
Memorizing a Poem ..... 



Six 

Further Study of Quotations ; Capital I 

Copying to Learn the Writing of Quotations and the 

Capital I ..... 
Pupils 1 Study in Preparation for Dictation 
Testing and Teaching through Dictation . 

Unstudied Dictation 

A Written Reproduction .... 
Summary of the Uses of Capitals 

Supplementary Work .... 

A Written Exercise on the Use of Capitals 
Reading ....... 

Studying the Story, "The Star Visitor" . 
Dramatizing the Story, " The Star Visitor" 
Writing a Conversation in Dialogue Form 
Picture Stories ...... 

Supplementary Work .... 
More Picture Stories .... 

Supplementary Work .... 



PAGE 

II 

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16 
17 

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24 

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[48 
[48 
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[49 

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:52 
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52 



CONTENTS 



Vii 



XV. Studying a Poem 
XVI. Telling the Story from the Poem 
XVII. Playing" One, Two, Three 11 . 



Chapter 
I 

II 
III 

IV 



Seven 

Studying a Story ; Quotations Reviewed ; Capitals to 
begin Days of the Week .... 
. Dictation, Studied and Unstudied . 
, The Days of the Week ; Origin of their Names 
Abbreviations ; Use of Capitals 
Original Exercise involving the Writing of the Day 
of the Week in Full and Abbreviated 
Supplementary Work ..... 
. A Story from a Rhyme ; The Apostrophe to Denote 
Possession 
Supplementary Work 



V. 

VI. Reproducing a Story from 

Supplementary Work 
VII. Possessives 

Supplementary Work 
VIII. Unstudied Dictation 
IX. Studying a Poem 
X. Dramatizing the Poem, " 

Away " 
XI. Writing a Dialogue . 

Supplementary Work 
XII. Finishing a Story 

XIII. A Picture Story 

Supplementary Work 

XIV. Writing a Story 
XV. More Picture Stories 

XVI. Writing Stories 
XVII. A Fairy Wish . 

Supplementary Work 

Chapter Eight 

I 



II. 



A Study of Fables . 

Supplementary Work 
The Study of the Fable, " The Wise Boar 11 



Different Standpoints 



When the Little Boy Ran 



155 
155 
155 

157 

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161 

161 

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163 

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189 



viii CONTENTS 



III. Writing a Fable from Dictation 

IV. Telling Original Fables . 

V. Writing an Original Fable .... 

Supplementary Work . . . . • 

VI. The Wise Judge : A Story to be Read and Studied 
VII. Dramatizing " The Wise Judge " 

Supplementary Work . 
VIII. Study of a Fable in Dialogue Form . 

Supplementary Work ..... 

IX. Writing a Story from a Dialogue 
X. Picture Stories ...... 

Supplementary Work ..... 

XI. More Picture Stories ..... 

XII. A Poem to Read and Study .... 

XIII. Copying the Poem, "Little Blue Pigeon " 

XIV. Memorizing the Poem, " Little Blue Pigeon " . 



ing Exercise 



X. A Written Exercise on the Months . 
XI. Study of Quotations about the Months 
XII. Memorizing Quotations . 



PAGE 
I 9 I 
I 9 I 
192 

*93 

194 

'95 
196 

196 

197 

197 

198 

199 

200 

200 

201 

201 



Chapter Nine 203 

I. "What Frightened the Animals. " — The Use of the 

Exclamation Mark ; the Use of the Comma with 

Noun of Direct Address 

Supplementary Work . 

II. A Copying Exercise to Give Practice in the Use of 

the Comma Learned in the Last Lesson 

III. Studied Dictation to Give Further Practice in Uses of 

Exclamation Mark and Comma 

IV. Unstudied Dictation to Test Use of Exclamation 

Mark and Comma 
Supplementary Work . 
V. The Months and their Abbreviations 
VI. Writing the Names of Holidays 
VII. Writing Dates . . . 

Supplementary Work . 
VIII. My Birthday : Original Written Composition . 
IX. How the Months were Named : A Study and Writ 



203 
204 

204 

204 

206 
208 
208 
208 
209 
210 
210 



212 
213 
213 
213 





CONTENTS 


IX 


XIII. 




PAGE 
214 


XIV. 


More Picture Stories . 


215 




Supplementary Work ...... 


2l6 


XV. 


Review of the Uses of Capitals and Punctuation 








2l6 


XVI. 


Studied Dictation ....... 


2l6 


XVII. 


Writing the Ending of a Story . 


217 




Supplementary Work ...... 


217 




218 


I. 


"For the King" ....... 


218 


II. 


Studying the Story ...... 


219 


III. 


Dramatizing the Story ...... 


220 


IV. 


Oral Reproduction of the Story . 


221 


V. 


Why Marks of Punctuation are Used 


221 




Supplementary Work ...... 


223 


VI. 


A Fable to Study and Copy 


224 


VII. 


Writing a Fable from Dictation . 


224 


VIII. 


Telling Original Fables ...... 


225 




Supplementary Work ...... 


226 


IX. 


Writing Original Fables . 


226 




Supplementary Work 


227 


X. 


Contractions, Don't, Doesn't . 


227 


XL 


A Contraction that is always Wrong, Ain't 


228 


XII. 


The Exclamation Mark ...... 


229 


XIII. 


Writing Exclamations ...... 


230 


XIV. 




23O 


XV. 


" The Dumb Soldier " 


23I 


XVI. 


" The Lost Doll " 


234 


XVII. 


Writing the Stories of the Dumb Soldier and the 






Lost Doll ....... 


235 




Supplementary Work 


235 


XVIII. 


Writing True Stories 


235 




237 


I. 


Making a Story from an Outline . . . . 


237 


II. 


Writing a Story from an Outline . 


24O 


III. 


" The King's Dream" ...... 


243 



CONTENTS 



IV. Dramatizing the Story . 
V. Oral Reproduction of the Story 
Supplementary Work . 

VI. Dates 

VII. Writing Dates from Dictation 

VIII. How to Write a Letter . 

IX. Letter Writing {Continued) . 

X. Answering a Letter 

XL Writing a Letter to a Friend . 

XII. Answering a Friend's Letter . 

XIII. A Fable to Study . 

XIV. Writing a Fable from Dictation 
XV. Making New Fables 

XVI. Writing a Fable . 

Supplementary Work . 
XVII. "America 1 ' .... 

Supplementary Work . 
XVIII. Writing " America" from Memory 
XIX. Picture Stories 

Supplementary Work . 
XX. More Picture Stories 



Chapter Twelve 

I. Suggestions for Using the Stories and Rhymes 
II. Poems for Additional Work . 
III. Books ....... 



244 
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246 
246 
247 
249 
251 
251 
252 
252 

253 

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256 

257 

258 

258 

259 
259 

259 

260 

260 
269 

272 



INTRODUCTION 

A traveler crossing a plain in India saw at a 
distance a slave who was busy drawing a bucket 
from a well. The traveler approached the well, 
hoping to get a drink. On reaching it he saw, to 
his surprise, that the bucket came to the top of the 
well empty. Again and again the slave let down 
the bucket, and ever it came to the top empty. 

" Hold ! " cried the traveler at length. " Do you 
not see that the well is empty? In order to get 
water from the well, you must either fill it from the 
reservoirs on the hills or dig down till you reach 
the natural springs in the earth." 

This little story well symbolizes much that is 
called language work — routine efforts to draw from 
the shallow surface of the child's mind full meas- 
ures of thought and feeling, efforts that we often 
thoughtlessly allow to become ends in themselves. 
Like the slave with his bucket, we go through the 
motions ; we draw from our pupils words, sentences, 
paragraphs, and punctuation marks, but they are 
empty. And they will continue to be as empty as 
the slave's bucket until we change our procedure. 

But the story does more than symbolize our 
futile efforts ; it suggests to us, as did the traveler 
to the slave, what we must do if we would see our 
efforts crowned with success. We must see to it 



2 INTRODUCTION 

that the sources from which we attempt to draw are 
well supplied ; we must see to it that the child con- 
tains — has command of — something expressible 
before we attempt to draw anything forth. The 
slave was told to supply his well either by drawing 
from the reservoirs on the hills or by sinking the 
well down to the natural springs. We must supply 
the child freely from both sources. We must open 
the ways for an unfailing supply of language ma- 
terial from the "reservoirs on the hill," — the reser- 
voirs of fable, fairy tale, legend, myth, story, poem, 
— literature ; we must also tap the abundant and ever 
renewed resources of the child's own experiences, 
the springs deep down in the child's reactions to the 
world about him — his ideas, his ambitions, his feel- 
ings and emotions. We must see that from these 
two inexhaustible sources the materials of thought 
and feeling flow together and make up the abundant 
stream of the child's mental life ; when we do this, 
we may draw deeply and without disappointment. 

These books, this Manual and the pupils' book 
accompanying it, — the Aldine First Language 
Book, — have grown out of many years of experi- 
ment in teaching " language," so called, — out of 
experience in which the reservoirs of literature and 
the springs of the children's lives have been tapped 
successfully, have been made to flow together into 
a rich mental child life and to flow out, on occa- 
sion, into correct forms of expression bearing the 



INTRODUCTION 3 

precious stamp of the child-author's individuality. 
The two books together furnish and suggest abun- 
dant and varied material ; they show just how this 
material may be used most successfully ; they are 
full of little plans and devices, every one of them as 
interesting to the children as a game, but every one 
purposeful and effective. 

The literary materials which the books provide — 
fables, myths, legends, stories of all kinds, rhymes, 
and poems — the delight of childhood, answer three 
tests. They are fully within the range of the child's 
understanding and appreciation, within his interests, 
his experiences, and imaginative powers; they are 
of that type of literature of which some, at least, 
must be known, assimilated, by every one who 
would appreciate the best in adult literature; they 
are expressed in forms that may safely be followed 
as models. Moreover, although classic, little of this 
material has become hackneyed by general use in 
Readers and other texts. 

The variety of ways in which these materials are 
presented arouses the keen interest of the children, 
stimulates their thought, and quickens their whole 
mental life. They discuss freely, they dramatize, 
they reproduce orally and in writing, they work over 
into new forms, they live and love the contents of 
stories and poems. These become a precious and 
an integral part of the children's inmost lives. 

In the light of these childhood experiences of the 



4 INTRODUCTION 

race, which are the basis of much of this literature 
of childhood, the child becomes conscious and 
appreciative of his own objective experiences — 
experiences which arise from his association with 
animate and inanimate nature — plants, animals, 
playmates, mountains, valleys and streams, winds, 
sun and moon. The child interprets, appreciates, 
and assimilates the contents of literature only 
through his own experiences, his own feelings and 
emotions, that the literary contents recall and arouse. 
On the other hand, and just as truly, literature re- 
veals to the child his own experiences, makes him 
conscious of them and their significance. 

The method and spirit of freedom and individu- 
ality which pervades all the work — or shall we call 
it play, it is so spontaneous ? — gives every child a 
confident control of his own resources, his language 
material. Expression in a language exercise be- 
comes as natural, as abundant, and as individual as 
on the playground. 

With all this attention to content, what becomes 
of form, the mechanics of language ? Are the uses 
of the marks of punctuation, of capitals, of sentences, 
paragraphs, and the rest neglected ? Not at all ; 
the learning of correct language forms is emphasized, 
but never as an end in itself, always as a means to 
an end. In the study of the bits of literature which 
the child understands and loves, he learns that cer- 
tain forms are necessary to the expression of the 



INTRODUCTION 5 

content; he learns to appreciate the significance of 
forms, When he attempts to give expression to his 
own language material — at first taking a bit of 
literature as a model — he uses the conventional 
language forms with discriminating intelligence. 
Forms are taught only as the child needs them to 
use ; but once taught, it is uniformly insisted that he 
shall always use every language form correctly, and 
that he shall know why he uses it. This conscious 
and discriminating use of language forms from the 
first soon grows into right habits. 

Questions are used throughout the pupils' book, 
for the most part, not to test the pupil's knowledge 
but to arouse and direct his thought. This accounts 
for the character of those questions, sometimes quite 
frequent, that strongly suggest their answers. This 
type of question is often necessary to insure the 
trend of thought desired. 

The division of the chapters into sections marked by 
Roman numerals indicates relatively complete units 
of work rather than lessons. Many of these units can 
be completed in a single exercise ; some will require 
two, three, or even more periods. The time required 
to cover a section or a chapter will vary much, of 
course, with different classes and different teachers. 

Between the minimum amount of work that must 
be done and the maximum that may be done in the 
completion of the pupils' book there is a margin 
wide enough to meet all the varying conditions of 



6 INTRODUCTION 

time usually devoted to language and the varying 
abilities of teachers, classes, and individual pupils. 
Carefully timed experience shows that the average 
class devoting two or three periods a week to lan- 
guage can cover the minimum requirements — that 
is, the regular, omitting all supplementary, work — 
in two years, while the exceptional child, giving a 
period a day to language, for the same length of 
time, will hardly exhaust the possibilities both of 
the regular and the supplementary work. With the 
same number of language periods per week for the 
two years, the first five chapters should be com- 
pleted the first year; the sixth chapter may also be 
covered. In either case, the second year's work 
should begin with Chapter Six. 

The pupils' book is designed strictly for the pupils' 
use ; it is addressed to the pupil, every line of it ; it 
speaks to the pupil. It is a book for the pupil to 
study and understand himself. This does not mean 
that the teacher must give no aid. On the contrary, 
the teacher shotdd help the pupil to use his book, 
teach him how to study, make him independent as 
early and as fully as possible. The directions and 
suggestions given to the pupils are made as simple 
and as clear as possible. They must be taught to 
read, to understand, and to carry them out. They 
should be given whatever help they really need in 
this, but no more. Learning to use their books is 
an important part of their language work. 



TEACHER'S MANUAL 



CHAPTER ONE 

Before taking up the first lesson with the children, 
the teacher should make herself entirely familiar 
with the whole chapter, as given in the pupils' book 
and in this Manual, that she may at the outset get 
fully into the spirit of the work, appreciate the pur- 
pose of the chapter as a whole and of every lesson, 
and see the mutual relations of the lessons. The 
following brief summary may be helpful. 

The general purposes of the chapter, which con- 
sists entirely of oral work, are to give the pupils 
something interesting to think and to talk about ; 
to get them to think their own thoughts freely and 
to express their thoughts in their own language; 
and to establish in the schoolroom informal, friendly, 
cooperative relations between pupils and between 
pupils and teacher. 

In the carrying out of these general purposes, 
definite and important beginnings are made in sev- 
eral kinds of exercises which will be carried on and 
developed throughout the book. Chief among them 
are these: 

7 



8 TEACHER'S MANUAL 

1. Expressive reading. 

2. Learning how to study so as to get out the full 
meaning of printed thoughts and feelings. 

3. Practice in the vivid recall, the mental imaging of 
events and actors about whom a story has been read ; con- 
versing freely about them, using the language of the actors, 
representing them. 

4. Learning to dramatize, to turn a story into dramatic 
form and to act it out. 

5. Reproducing in the child's own words and manner 
the essential ideas of a story that has been learned. 

6. Making an appropriate ending to an unfinished story. 

7. Telling original stories. 

8. Reading stories in pictures. 

9. Learning to describe. 

10. Studying a poem : turning the ideas into story and 
into dramatic form. 

I (i). Reading * 

Head with the pupils the fable, "Grand Tusk and Nimble." 

This reading must be full of life and interest; 
it must be marked with discriminating expression. 

* Each section of each chapter of this Manual marked with a Roman 
numeral refers to the section identically marked in the corresponding chapter 
of the pupils' book, the Aldine First Language Book. The number in the 
parenthesis following the Roman numeral in this Manual indicates the page 
in the pupils' book on which the corresponding section may be found. The 
titles given to corresponding sections in the Manual and in the pupils' book 
are not always the same. 

A section should be considered a unit rather than a lesson. No section 
will require less than a lesson period; some may require several lesson 
periods, depending upon circumstances. (See Introduction, p. 5.) 



TEACHING PUPILS TO STUDY g 

The actors and events of the story are rich in 
contrasts. These contrasts, ^ — the slow, colossal 
bulk and pride of the elephant meeting the little, 
alert, agile form and intense pride of the mon- 
key, both of these presenting themselves before the 
calm, dignified, wise owl, the joyful confidence of 
the elephant and the terrified despair of the monkey 
at the river, the helplessness of the elephant and the 
efficiency of the monkey at the mango tree, — these 
contrasts must be made to stand out, clear-cut. 
This can be done through the voice, the bearing, the 
expression of the countenance. The one aim now 
is to read this story so well that every child will be 
filled with its meaning, will feel with every actor in 
it, will live through every incident. A single read- 
ing will hardly accomplish this ; parts will need to 
be reread again and again, by the teacher and by 
different pupils, until the best, the most appropriate 
rendering has been secured. No perfunctory reading 
of one pupil after another, merely for the purpose of 
giving all a fair part in the exercise, no rereading that 
serves only to fill up the time allotted, will suffice. 

II (3). Teaching Pupils to Study 
1. Reread the fable, " Grand Tusk and Nimble." 

A single, uninterrupted reading by the teacher, 
by a pupil, or by five pupils, each reading one part, 
should be so well done that every pupil will be tin- 
gling with desire for expression. 



10 TEACHER'S MANUAL 

2. Teach the pupils to study the fable 

Begin by asking them some of the easier questions 

in their book, under Studying the Story, " Grand 

Tusk and Nimble" such as : 

Why was the elephant called Grand Tusk? 

Why was the monkey called Nimble? 

Where did the owl live? 

How did the elephant and the monkey cross the river? 

These questions should be asked by the teacher 
and answered by the pupils with all books closed. 
Questions and answers should spring from the vivid 
vision of the story, with all its actors, scenes, and 
events, as it fills the minds of teacher and children. 

With their interest keen, have pupils open books 
to the section, Studying the Story, " Grand Tusk 
and Nimble" (p. 3). Show them in detail how to 
study as their book directs. This is, quite probably, 
the first lesson they have ever had in studying ; it is 
of the utmost importance. Learning how to study, 
and forming the habit of studying independently, 
are fundamental to all sound advancement in lan- 
guage or in any other subject. Help them patiently, 
with individual discrimination, giving each one skill- 
fully, by suggestion or by direct information, just the 
aid he needs, and no more. Each succeeding lesson 
of this kind should require less help from the teacher, 
until the pupils become able to go about the study 
of such lessons quite by themselves, intelligently and 
effectively. 



CONVERSATION: QUESTIONS AND ANSWERS n 

Have the children first read the directions about 
answering the questions, sentence by sentence, and 
make sure that they realize what every statement 
means. Then have them read and answer the ques- 
tions one by one, as though they were studying 
from the book alone. See that they follow the 
directions in doing this. A few of the easier ques- 
tions may be left for them to answer to themselves 
in the short study period that should immediately 
follow this exercise. In this study period, each 
child should answer to himself every question in 
order, both those that have already been gone over 
in this class study and those that were omitted. 
See that the children understand the directions 
about bringing a picture and thinking of questions 
that they would like to ask. 

Ill (6). Conversation : Questions and Answers 

The immediate dominant purpose of this con- 
versation exercise on the fable, Grand Tusk and 
Nimble, is to prepare the pupils for the dramatization 
and the reproduction of the story which are to fol- 
low in succeeding lessons. To carry out this pur- 
pose, the characters and places in the story must be 
recalled and described vividly and clearly, the events 
must be reproduced and seen distinctly in the order 
of their occurrence. To effect this orderly recall 
and clear description, the teacher's questions must 
be systematic, progressive, and pointed. She must 



12 TEACHER'S MANUAL 

herself avoid and discourage in her pupils all irrele- 
vant questions and remarks. The whole exercise 
should give excellent training in orderly thinking 
and clear expression. It will test the success of the 
pupils' study period, and prepare them to study the 
next similar exercise more successfully. 

Substantially the following questions should be 
asked, and asked in about the order given. These 
questions include the questions that the pupils 
studied in preparation for this exercise. Many 
other questions may suggest themselves ; only such 
as are consistent with the continuity of thought 
should be asked. Do not forget to call for questions 
from pupils. If they have no opportunity — if they 
are not required — at this exercise to ask any of the 
questions that they were directed to think of in their 
study period, they will prepare none next time. 
Suppress at once or hold in abeyance all questions 
that tend to divert the thought from the orderly 
essentials of the story. If this is skillfully done, the 
questioner will not be discouraged, but he and all the 
class will be given a lesson in discriminating between 
the relevant and the irrelevant, — a power indispen- 
sable to effective thinking. 

The teacher should prepare herself so thoroughly 
for this exercise that she will need no book. With 
the story held vividly in mind, the questions will 
come easily and in the right order. Of course, the 
pupils are without open books. 



CONVERSATION: QUESTIONS AND ANSWERS 13 

People in the story. 

Why was the elephant called Grank Tusk? Have you ever 
seen an elephant? (Show pictures of elephants children have 
brought, and ask the children to point out tusks. Have a picture 
ready to show in case no child has remembered to bring one. 
Keep for use in Section VIII all pictures of elephants that you can 
collect.) Why was the monkey called Nimble? What does 
nimble mean? Have you ever seen a monkey? Where? What 
did he do that proved he was nimble? Where do monkeys and 
elephants live when they are wild ? (The story does not tell this, 
but a few words of description of an Indian forest or jungle will 
make the story more real to the children.) Have you ever seen 
an owl? Where? If not an owl, have you ever seen a picture of 
one? What kind of eyes did he have? Did he look wise? 

Places in the story. 

Where do you think the elephant and the monkey were when 
they began to quarrel ? To whose house did they go? Where 
did the owl live ? After leaving the owl's house, where did they 
first stop? What was their next stop after crossing the river? 

The talking in the story. 

Who began the quarrel? What did he say? Say, "Behold 
me ! See how big and strong I am ! " just as you think Grand 
Tusk said it. Say, " Behold me ! See how little and clever I 
am!" just as you think Nimble said it. When they asked the 
owl which was better, to be big and strong or to be little and 
clever, what did he tell them to do? Say these words just as 
Nimble said them — that is, show how frightened he was : " Oh, 
I never can cross that wide river. Let us go back ! " What did 
Grank Tusk answer? What did Grand Tusk say when he found 
he could gather no fruit? Give Nimble's answer just as you think 
he spoke. When Grank Tusk and Nimble returned to the home 
of Dark Sage, what questions did he ask them? What did each 
answer? What wise words did Dark Sage speak? 



14 TEACHER'S MANUAL 

Something to think about. 

Do you think the owl knew just what would happen when he 
sent Grand Tusk and Nimble for the mangoes, or do you think 
he only wanted to get some fruit for himself? Was Dark Sage 
a good name for the old owl ? 



IV (9). Dramatizing the Fable, "Grand Tusk and 

Nimble " 

The initiative in dramatizing should always be 
taken by the children. They will have to learn 
how to plan and carry out a play ; but even in this, 
which is possibly their first experience, they should 
be allowed and encouraged to think out all they can 
for themselves. Hence the questions and sugges- 
tions addressed directly to the children. The 
teacher must help them, in class exercise, to study 
this section, Playing the Story, " Grand Tusk and 
Nimble" taking up question by question, with their 
books open before them, much as in the study of 
Section II. Guide them as much as necessary, but 
let the plan worked out for the dramatizing be really 
♦the children's own. Where there is opportunity, as 
in the assignment of parts, the location and width of 
the river, the choice of something for a mango tree, 
encourage a variety of suggestions, and then let the 
children decide, so far as possible, on what is best. 

The imagination should be depended upon to 
furnish nearly all the setting. Almost any place in 
the room will serve for the scene of the beginning 



DRAMATIZING 



15 



of the quarrel, a dark corner, or closet, for the owl's 
home, a five or ten foot space between two cracks 
in the floor for the river; and a chair or bench will 
enable Nimble to climb the entirely imaginary mango 
tree. An imaginary basket is quite sufficient for 
the carrying of imaginary mangoes. 

Have the play follow immediately upon the prepa- 
ration for it. In the play, as well as in the prepara- 
tion, encourage originality and initiative. There is 
no value whatever in a mechanical dramatization in 
which each actor remembers just what he is to do 
and the exact words which he is to speak. Each 
one must feel, live, be, the part he is taking ; then 
he will act and speak spontaneously, naturally, and 
fittingly. No two children, playing in this way, will 
act and speak just alike in the same part. 

To guard against mechanical uniformity — a stiff 
and wooden production, — which is quite likely to 
grow out of the teacher's desire to' have the play go 
off smoothly, this very first play should be repeated 
several times, as convenient, but with different pupils 
taking the parts. Each little actor should always be 
encouraged to play his part as he conceives it, not 
as some one played it before. This originality may 
be encouraged by discussing the performances with 
thje children, comparing, commending excellencies, 
and suggesting improvements. 

In this first, as in subsequent plays, it will be best 
to have some of the more capable children give the 



1 6 TEACHER'S MANUAL 

first production. In repetitions, less capable chil- 
dren should have full opportunity. It is not wise, 
however, to make up the whole cast of second or 
third rate little players ; there should always be at 
least one strong actor who will unconsciously set a 
standard for the others. 

It is always to be remembered that dramatizing 
is not an end in itself. A finished, smooth produc- 
tion, which has been achieved by endless repetition 
and drill of the selected few, while the remainder of 
the class have sat passively by, is to be condemned 
from every point of view. The passive onlookers 
get no benefit from it ; the participants get scarcely 
more. Dramatizing must always be treated as a 
means to an end. As a means, rightly used, it is 
quite likely to be quite as efficient with those of 
least as with those of most histrionic talent. 

Make the atmosphere such as to dispel all timidity. 
Make every child feel like throwing himself freely 
into his part. This will aid, rather than hinder, 
good " discipline." 

V (9). Oral Reproduction of the Story, "Grand Tusk 

and Nimble" 

The oral reproduction of a story may be easy, or 
it may be difficult ; it may have much or little edu- 
cational value. The mere verbal reproduction of a 
story, exactly or approximately as it was heard or 
read, is easy for any one with a good verbal memory ; 



ORAL REPRODUCTION 17 

but it is an exercise of little value. The reproduc- 
tion of a story in the reproducer's own words, or in 
words that he has made his own, after every thought 
and act and event of the original has been assimi- 
lated, is difficult and valuable. The children should 
now be well prepared for this difficult and profitable 
kind of reproduction. The expressive reading, the 
study, and the dramatizing of the story, if these ex- 
ercises were effective in themselves, must have con- 
tributed strongly to this end. The teacher must see 
to it that the cumulative effect of all these exercises 
tells in every child's reproduction. 

Be sure that the children understand the directions 
given them in their book for the immediate prepara- 
tion for the story, and that they have time to carry 
them out. The story. may be reproduced in five 
parts, by as many children, one following the other 
in quick succession, or entire by a single child. The 
reproduction, entire or in part, should not be re- 
peated by several children, just for the sake of test- 
ing them on it, or of giving them an opportunity; 
every repetition should be for a definite purpose 
which every one understands, such as a more appro- 
priate rendering of the conversation of one of the 
actors, greater fluency, or the omission of unneces- 
sary words. 

To make this exercise as valuable as it should be, 
the teacher must have prepared herself to reproduce 
the story as the children are expected to reproduce 



1 8 TEACHER'S MANUAL 

it ; that is, not through verbal memory, but on the 
basis of assimilation. She will then be more capa- 
ble of appreciating the children's efforts and of 
giving them helpful, constructive criticism. At the 
opportune occasion, she should give her reproduc- 
tion of the story, entire or in part, not as a form to 
copy, but as an inspiration. 

VI (10). Finishing a Story 

This lesson in the pupils' book is presented as 
though each pupil were expected to finish the in- 
complete story for himself. This each one should 
be shown how and helped to do. In subsequent 
lessons of this kind, less and less help will be re- 
quired, until finally the pupils will be able to com- 
plete stories entirely by themselves — and stories in 
which much more invention is necessary than in 
this. As this is perhaps their initial attempt, the 
exercise should first be studied with the pupils 
something as follows. 

First, read the story, as far as given, with the 
pupils. Let it be so read that they get fully into 
the spirit of it. Make sure that they recognize and 
feel the similarity to the fable of Grand Tusk and 
Nimble. Then finish the story under the guidance 
of the questions and suggestions given in their 
book. Give as little direct aid as will suffice. By 
skillful questioning, selecting, rejecting, and com- 
bining the contributions of one and another, what 



FINISHING A STORY 



19 



may be finally accepted as a satisfactory ending 
may well contain only the thoughts of the children. 
The ending, beyond that suggested in the pupils' 
book, may be something like this : 

George knew he could not run very fast, so he said to Tom, 
"You go." 

Never before had Tom run so fast as he did that day. Still, in 
all his haste, he had time to think : " I was right. It is better to be 
quick than to be strong." 

He found the doctor at home, and they hurried back to the old 
man's bedside. The doctor knew just what to give the sufferer, 
who soon became better. 

Then the doctor said to the old lady : " It is a good thing for 
you, my friend, that George was strong enough to carry your hus- 
band into the house and that Tom could run so fast to bring me 
to your aid. Had it not been for these boys, I am afraid your 
husband would have died." 

The boys looked at each other and thought, " Sometimes it 
is better to be strong, and sometimes it is better to be quick." 

At the conclusion of this study and invention 
together, one or two of the most capable of the 
children may try to reproduce the complete story, 
with the ending as worked out in class, or with their 
own. After further study, for which time should be 
given, each pupil should be prepared to reproduce 
the story with the ending which he has thought out. 

Encourage the pupils, in preparing themselves 
for this next exercise, to think out, each one for* 
himself, the ending to the story, rather than to try 
to recall the ending worked out in class. While 
there is, obviously, no great opportunity for origi- 



20 TEACHER'S MANUAL 

nality, consistent with the general harmony of the 
completed story, every child's ending of the story 
should be individual in some of its details, as evidence 
that he has not simply memorized what others have 
thought out. For the child who only so memorizes, 
the exercise has fallen short of its purpose ; the child 
has invented nothing for the completion of the story, 
but merely reproduced the completed story, the 
first part from the book, the last from the invention 
of other children. 

VII (12). Oral Reproduction and Completion of the 
Uncompleted Story, "Strong and Quick" 

Some children should tell the story from the 
beginning; others need only give the ending sup- 
plied by the pupils. To avoid monotonous uni- 
formity of these endings, insist that every child shall 
make his ending vary from others in some notice- 
able respect. Have the children who are listening 
watch for this variation and comment upon it. It 
may well be expected that some one's completion 
of the story — perhaps modified by the suggestions 
of others — will be more satisfactory than that 
worked out together at the last exercise. 

VI II (13). Telling Original Stories 

The children should be able, and should be 
allowed, to prepare their stories to tell without 
direct help from the teacher. Encourage them to 



TELLING ORIGINAL STORIES 21 

prepare original stories, or stories that they make 
up from the suggestions given them. No child 
should tell the story of the blind men and the ele- 
phant except as a last resort. 

The class exercise must not be spent merely in 
the telling of the stories, as the children have pre- 
pared them. Every story told should be com- 
mented upon. The teacher should make her com- 
ments, and the children should be encouraged, taught, 
to make theirs. These comments, for the most part, 
should be in the form of helpful, encouraging, discrim- 
inating, appreciative, constructive criticism. It is 
not enough to remark that a story is "good," or "in- 
teresting," or "flat " ; the definite things about it that 
are good, that are interesting, should be pointed out ; 
the reason for its flatness should be made clear. 

In the teacher's criticism, particularly with begin- 
ners, the pointing out and the approval of good 
features should always predominate over the atten- 
tion given to defects. This is a principle whose 
application is by no means limited to story telling. 
Children should also be taught to criticize in this 
way. When this is done, criticism will cease to 
suggest faultfinding and censure. 

In this, and in similar exercises in story telling, 
the teacher must keep ever in mind — and keep also 
in her pupils' minds — the main purpose in the tell- 
ing ci each story and in the critical comments made 
upon it. That purpose is this : To help the teller 



22 TEACHER'S MANUAL 

and every other pupil to tell a better story, the next 
time he tries, than he otherwise could. In other 
words, every story told should be made to yield 
some definite suggestion that will be helpful to 
every one in the telling of stories. That every 
story told may be made to serve this purpose fully, 
the teacher must begin now, at the very outset, to 
treat the matter in the way here suggested. Noth- 
ing approaches nearer to mere time killing than an 
exercise in which one pupil after another tells a 
story, while all the other pupils sit passively by 
except as here and there one may be occasionally 
aroused by something striking or of unusual interest 
in the story. Every child who is not telling the 
story should be trained to listen attentively, — re- 
gardless of the interest or dullness of the story, — to 
think positively and discriminatingly, so that when 
the story is ended he can make definite, critical 
comments on the performance. To develop this 
power and habit in children, the teacher's consistent 
example alone will hardly be sufficient, but it is 
indispensable ; it will do more than all else com- 
bined to effect the desired result. 

IX (14). Reading a Story in a Picture 

(Picture of children at garden wall, p. 15) 

To stimulate and at the same time to direct the 
constructive imagination, to loose the individual 
powers of invention, to encourage real and orderly 



READING A STORY IN A PICTURE 23 

thought in every young pupil, nothing surpasses a 
suitable picture rightly used. To use a picture 
effectively for this purpose requires teaching skill 
and insight of the highest order, especially in the 
beginning. Here the teacher's task is that of teach- 
ing children to read picture stories, not to describe 
pictures. 

A story picture contains a story just as truly as 
a printed narrative does. But like the printed 
page, the picture reveals its story only to those who 
know how to read. Reading pictures is an art to 
be taught and learned just as truly as reading 
printed language is an art to be taught and learned. 
Naming the objects in a picture, or telling what 
one sees in it, or describing it, is not reading the 
story that it tells any more than the naming at 
random of the words in a written narrative or de- 
scribing the way the narrative looks on the page, 
is reading the story that the narrative contains, and 
pupils must not be permitted, much less encouraged, 
to talk about story pictures in this way. They 
must be taught to read pictures. 

How can this be done ? First of all, the teacher 
must know, or learn, how to read pictures herself, 
how to read them expressively and with a touch of 
originality. If you are not accustomed to picture 
reading, you will need to make most thoughtful and 
careful preparation for these early lessons. In prep- 
aration for the lesson with the garden wall picture, 



24 TEACHER'S MANUAL 

see how many distinct stories you can read from 
that picture. 

Obviously, your interpretation of the center of 
interest in the picture will determine the heart, the 
essentials of the story; all else will be mere setting. 
The center of interest in the garden wall picture is 
just outside your range of vision. But the boy on 
the wall sees it. What does he see ? What is he 
pointing at ? Is it a house on fire, a runaway 
horse, an automobile smash-up, a big ship on the 
sea, a brass band, a company of soldiers, a circus 
parade, an explosion, a race of some kind, — foot, 
horse, boat, automobile, — a father or mother re- 
turning home after a long absence, a flying machine 
just alighting or just arising from the ground, a 
balloon landing, — or what is it? Whatever you 
decide it is, that will determine the story that you 
will read from the picture. The setting, which in- 
cludes the introduction and the conclusion, must be 
consistent with the heart of the story and with what 
the picture plainly shows. The whole story — in- 
troduction, heart, and conclusion — should be brief 
and pointed. 

Think out in some detail several stories that you 
might read from this picture. Tell or write out 
one or two of them. If you start with the assumption 
that the boy on the wall sees a circus parade, perhaps 
you will read a story from the picture something 
like the following : 



READING A STORY IN A PICTURE 25 



The Circus Parade 

One morning in June, Tom, Ned, Mary, and Baby were playing 
in the garden. A ladder was leaning against the garden wall. 
Tom climbed to the top. 

At once he cried, " Oh, I see a big circus parade ! There is 
an elephant and a camel and a clown and ever so many horses ! 
Hurry, come up !" 

Ned helped Baby and Mary to climb the ladder, and soon they 
were all seated on the wall. 

The circus parade came nearer. It marched right by the 
garden. The children watched all the queer animals until they 
had passed. 

" What a grand parade ! " cried Tom. " Let us go in and ask 
mother to take us to the circus this afternoon." 

Neither this story nor any other of the many 
possible stones which you have found the picture to 
contain is to be imposed or intruded on the children 
when you take up the study of the picture with 
them to teach them to read it. Your ample prepara- 
tion should fit you at once to follow the lead of the 
children with confidence, and at the same time so to 
direct their thought that an orderly and consistent 
story will result. 

Study with the children the questions in their 
book. Hold them always to the point to be brought 
out by any question or group of questions. Help 
the children to answer, skillfully suggest, and direct 
the answers to these questions, as may be necessary, 
but do not answer the questions for the children. 



26 TEACHER'S MANUAL 

The exercise, to serve its purpose, must enlist the 
mental activity of the children — their constructive 
imagination, their powers of inference and reason- 
ing; accepted by them in a state of passive recep- 
tivity, the exercise is valueless. Of course the 
degree of activity and originality will vary greatly 
from child to child ; but every child should show 
some touch of independent imagination in response 
to the questions concerning the center of interest in 
the picture. Encourage great variety of replies to 
these questions, but insist that they be in harmony 
with what the picture plainly reveals. For example, 
these are not satisfactory answers to the question 
concerning what the boy on the wall sees : " a robin," 
"a horse," "a boy," "a dog," "a house." Why not? 
Because such commonplace things would not excite 
the children as they are obviously excited. Refuse 
such answers and be sure that the children under- 
stand why you refuse them. 

By a little informal dramatizing, get the children 
thoroughly aroused and into the spirit of the story 
that must be told. If the boy on the wall is sup- 
posed to see a balloon descending, let a child imi- 
tate his look of excitement and gestures as he rushes 
to a window, climbs up on a chair (ladder), looks 
and points, off, and let him cry out, " Oh, look, look, 
the balloon, the balloon ! " Let the other children 
answer, " Where ? Where ? Let me see," etc. 

From the variety of answers that you get con- 



READING A STORY IN A PICTURE 27 

cerning the center of interest, select one with the 
approval of the children. With this as a center 
construct out of the children's answers to other 
questions a brief, harmonious story, taking care that 
the children understand every step as fully as possi- 
ble and that they be given the feeling of cooperat- 
ing. Of course the resulting story will not express 
any considerable amount of the originality of any 
single child ; yet through the process of working 
out stories together in this way each child will soon 
learn how to read a story from a picture all alone 
and to put into it his own conceptions throughout. 
After the story has been worked out to comple- 
tion, have one or more children reproduce it. 

Supplementary Work 
1. Dramatizing the picture story. 

Under your guidance encourage the children themselves to do 
all they can in deciding upon the parts, the actors, the scenery, 
etc., and in carrying out the dramatization. See the discussion of 
the function and conduct of dramatizing (p. 14). 

Supposing the story that you have to dramatize is substantially 
that of The Circus Parade, these are some of the matters that the 
children should be led to decide and carry out. 

Children in the garden : How many ? Who shall take part ? 
What shall they be doing at first? (Digging, hoeing, raking, 
gathering flowers, playing tag.) 

What shall serve as a wall and ladder? (Window sill with chair 
beside it.) 

Why does Tom climb the ladder? (Perhaps he heard a noise 
over the wall that made the children stop what they were doing.) 



28 TEACHER'S MANUAL 

What does Tom say — exact words — as he runs to the ladder? 
What does he call out as he reaches the top of the wall (window 
sill) and looks and points off (out of the window)? 

What do the other children cry out as they reach the top of 
the wall ? (" Oh, see that big elephant ! " " Hear the lion 
roar ! " "Just look at those funny camels ! " etc.) 

The dramatization might end, as the story ends, with a proposal 
from Tom to see mother about going to the circus. (Children 
all rush off to mother.) 

2. Working out with the children other stories from the same 
picture. 

Take for the heart of these stories suggestions made by the 
children in the first exercise. Let the stories be as different from 
the first as possible. Expect the children to assist more in putting 
these stories into form than they were able to do in the first 
exercise. 

3. "Original" stories told by the children. 

From any of the unused suggestions that have been made 
children may tell "original" stories. Only a few of the best 
pupils should be called upon for these stories. Insist on point, 
brevity, and consistency. 

X (17). More Picture Stories 

(Picture of children at window, p. 19) 

As a result of the study of the last picture, chil- 
dren should be able to make stories with a little 
more independence. Still they must be well started 
in the study of this picture. 

While the stories that may be told from the 
children at the window picture are very different 



MORE PICTURE STORIES 29 

from those of the garden wall picture, their funda- 
mental characteristics are the same, and they are 
worked out in the same way. There must be 
a center, of interest in the story, something that 
the children see, but that is not revealed in the 
picture. It must be something quite amusing, as 
shown by the children's faces. What is it? What 
are children likely to see from a window that 
amuses them ? 

In taking up the study of this picture with the 
children so as to get them started right, refer to the 
garden wall picture and the way that the stories 
were worked out of that after determining the 
center of interest, and lead the children to see that 
this picture is to be studied in the same way. Per- 
haps the children will think that four of these chil- 
dren resemble the children in the garden wall 
picture. If they do, it may add to the interest to 
let these stories be really a continuation of the 
stories from that picture. 

Get the children to give you a large variety of 
things that would be appropriate for the center of 
interest in a story which this picture would illus- 
trate : as, a monkey with an organ grinder; a 
dancing bear; a circus clown cutting up antics; an 
exciting game played by other children ; a funny 
upset with nobody hurt ; some harmless April Fool 
trick. Encourage the children to enter heartily 
into the spirit of the various suggestions, perhaps 



3° 



TEACHER'S MANUAL 



with the aid of bits of appropriate dramatization as 
proposed in the study of the last picture. 

With this aid at the beginning, the children may 
be able to work out, each one for himself, under the 
guidance of the questions and suggestions in their 
book, appropriate stories. If they need more help 
from you before attempting this, study further with 
them, somewhat after this manner: 

Outline of Stories from Children at Window Picture 

Tom had a birthday party. He invited several of his little 
friends. As they were playing (pupils suggest games), or as they 
were eating (pupils suggest what), they were startled by (pupils 
tell what). They rushed to the window and saw (what?). 

Here have pupils supply the exact conversation of the children, 
making it interesting, animated, and appropriate to the thing that 
they are supposed to see. 

Let the outside incident be ended. 

What do the children say ? 

Then they return to their game (how might they change their 
game as suggested by what they have just seen?) or to their 
lunch. 

Give the children time to think out a story, each 
one for himself. Encourage them to vary their 
stones as much as possible from the one that you 
may have worked out with them. There should 
be enough unused suggestions regarding the center 
of interest to enable every child to put a little of his 
own thought, his inventive imagination, into the 
construction of a story. 



LEARNING TO DESCRIBE 31 

Do not mind that the results are crude, so long 
as the children are thinking. The main purpose 
of these exercises is to stimulate the pupils' im- 
agination and to give them practice in expressing 
the results of their imagining in orderly, connected, 
pointed language. Stories in good form and full of 
originality will come in due time. 

XI (18). Learning to Describe 

Read with the children The Blind Men and the 
Elephant. Let them answer the questions follow- 
ing. Then help them — as little as will suffice — 
to read understand ingly and to carry out the direc- 
tions under Something to Do. Be ready to provide, 
if necessary, one or more pictures of an elephant. 
Then call for several descriptions. Give the chil- 
dren opportunity and insist that they judge and 
comment on the descriptions, as suggested in their 
book. This is just as important as the descriptions 
themselves. 

XII (21). Games of Description 

The following " games of description " should in- 
volve careful, discriminating observations, the accu- 
rate oral use of language, and the interpretation of 
this language in appropriate mental pictures and 
ideas. See that the children, in their descriptions 
and in their criticisms, follow the directions given 
and practiced in the last lesson. 



& 



3 2 



TEACHER'S MANUAL 



Game 1. The Four Blind Men. 

The teacher blindfolds four children. Each in turn stands be- 
fore the class and describes, from touch, an object which the 
teacher places in his hands. The object should not be too 
familiar — a piece of wood, a stone, a leaf, a feather, a nail, will 
serve — and the pupil describing it must not name it. The pupils 
at their seats criticize the descriptions and decide which is best. 

Game 2. What Is It? 

One child leaves the room. The teacher points out to the 
other children some familiar, rather easily described object, as a 
book, a pointer, a window. The child returns to the room, and 
several children in turn describe the object that was designated 
by the teacher. Of course they must not name it ; nor should 
they, at first, give any peculiarity about it, such as its use, which 
would make its recognition certain without real description. 

In this game, the children are not blind men ; they can see be- 
fore them the object that they are describing. After a few 
descriptions, the child is asked to guess the object. If he does 
so, he should tell whose description first enabled him to guess it. 
The other children should pass judgment on the several descrip- 
tions, as directed in the last lesson. The one that gave the best 
description may be the next one to leave the room. 

Game 3. Who Is It? 

One child describes as clearly as possible another child in the 
room. The pupil who first guesses which child is being described 
may describe another. And so the game may proceed. 

XIII (21). Getting the Story from a Poem 

Read The Mozmtain and the Squirrel to the chil- 
dren, trying to express its meaning as clearly as pos- 



GETTING THE STORY FROM A POEM 



33 



sible. Study it carefully and in detail with the 
children, as suggested in their book. The recall and 
comparison of the story of Grand Tusk and Nimble 
will help much. The essentials, including the final 
moral, are the same in both stories. 

A further aid to the complete appreciation of the 
poem will be a dramatization of it. Following the 
suggestions for dramatizing Grand Tusk mid Nimble 
(p. 14), help the children to turn the poem into 
dramatic form. Encourage free use of their imagina- 
tion in the form of expression, but hold them to the 
facts and meaning of the poem. Perhaps it will 
work out something like this : 

Mountain : Behold me ! See how big I am ! 

Squirrel : Behold me ! See how little I am ! 

M. : It is better to be big than to be little. 

S. : No, it is just as well to be little. I am as good as you. 

(Doubtless it was some such pert reply of the squirrel, making 
himself equal to the great mountain, that brought forth the next 
words of the mountain.) 

M. : Little prig ! 

S. : I know you are very big. But every one can't be as big 
as you are. I am not ashamed to be my own little self. If I am 
not so big as you, you are not so small as I, and you can't run 
around and climb trees as I can. 

M. : Run around ! Climb trees ! I am of more use than 
that ! 

S. : Yes, you are good to run over. You are covered with my 
tracks. 

M. : I am covered with more than squirrel tracks. Just see 
the great forests I carry on my back ! You cannot carry a single 
tree ! 



34 TEACHER'S MANUAL 

S. : We were not all meant to do the same kind of work. It 
is true I cannot carry forests on my back as you do, but — neither 
can you crack a nut. 

After the poem has been worked out in dramatic 
form, let two children, adapted to the two parts, act 
it. Encourage the use of their own language. 

XIV (24). Telling the Story of the Poem, "The 
Mountain and the Squirrel" 

i. Read the poem to the children. 

2. Have one or two children read it. 

3. Have it dramatized — by children other than 
those who took part at the last exercise. 

4. In preparation for telling the story, question 
the children somewhat as follows, requiring them to 
answer with complete statements. 

One day who had a quarrel? 
Who began it? 
What did the mountain say? 
What did the squirrel say? 

Let several children tell the story, each one in his 
own way. If one uses the words and expressions of 
the poem, well and good. If another follows rather 
the dramatized form, accept that. If still another 
uses original words or expressions, commend him, 
so long as his story is true to the essentials. The 
purpose is to get each child to enter fully into the 
meaning and spirit of the story, and to tell it freely, 
without self-consciousness, as an interesting incident. 



CHAPTER TWO 

If the spirit and purpose of the varied exercises 
of Chapter One have been realized, you are now on 
intimate terms with your class as a whole ; more 
than this, you are at least beginning to understand 
sympathetically the interests, capacities, tempera- 
ment, the possibilities of each child. Before taking 
up the work of this chapter with the children, read 
again the opening paragraphs of Chapter One 
(pp. J-8) in which the content, the character, and 
the purpose of that chapter are summarized and ex- 
plained ; review carefully in your mind the way the 
exercises of that chapter were carried out, and try 
to determine to what extent the purposes of the 
chapter have been realized. Then study this chap- 
ter thoroughly, both in this Manual and in the pupils' 
book, always using the two together, in order that 
you may understand how this chapter continues the 
exercises and aims of Chapter One, what advance- 
ment is made, and especially the intimate, interde- 
pendent relations of the various exercises. You will 
find in all the w^ide variety of exercises offered — 
which insures the constant, undulled interest of the 
children — that not only has each exercise a definite 
purpose, but that every purpose accomplished con- 

35 



36 TEACHER'S MANUAL 

tributes materially to the accomplishment of every 
other, and that all together advance the realization of 
the larger purposes of language study — the enrich- 
ment, control, and effective use of mental resources. 
The contents of this chapter may be summarized 
as follows : 

1. A continuation of the work begun in Chapter One: 
expressive reading; intimate study of simple stories; con- 
versations; dramatizing; oral reproductions; picture study 
and oral picture stories ; the study of a poem, and the render- 
ing of it in dramatic and in story form. 

2. New work. 

(a) Sentences: statements and questions. 

(b) The use of the capital to begin the first word of a 

sentence. 

(c) The use of the period at the end of a statement. 

(d) The use of the question mark. 

(e) Copying statements and questions. 

(/) Writing from dictation: studied and unstudied 

matter. 
(g) Writing original statements. 
(h) Relating original experiences. 

I (25). Reading 

Read with the children the myth, How the Linden 
Came to Be. Let it be so read that every character 
in it will stand out distinctly, — the strong, self- 
satisfied oak, the frail, timid plant, the scornful 
crow, the rough, unsympathetic wind, the kind sun 



STUDYING THE STORY OF THE LINDEN 37 

and rain. Every reader must feel and appropriately 
express the attitude of each of these characters. 
With this purpose distinctly before teacher and 
pupils, this story should be read and reread until 
every child can at once throw himself sympatheti- 
cally into the attitude of oak, plant, crow, wind, sun, 
and rain. The child who can not do this has not 
read the story; he has read only words, and the 
lesson has not served its full purpose for that child. 

II (27). Studying" the Story of the Linden 

This is a lesson for the children to study and pre- 
pare by themselves. They should probably be 
given considerable help about it ; just how much 
they need to make their study effective the teacher 
must determine. (See suggestions for teaching 
children to study a similar lesson, p. 9.) Probably 
the greatest difficulty of many will be found in real- 
izing just what every direction means. Read with 
them these directions — also the directions in the 
last chapter to which they are referred — and make 
sure that they not merely understand what these 
directions say, but that they are moved to do as 
they say. To learn how to formulate and ask good 
questions, as they are directed to do, is quite as im- 
portant and just as difficult as the answering of 
questions. Encourage them in this, and call for 
their questions at the next lesson without fail. 

The things to "do and say" serve not merely as 



38 TEACHER'S MANUAL 

a preparation for dramatizing the story; the prac- 
tice of these things develops in the child discrimi- 
nating feelings for the meaning and use of words 
and expressions. Children should be encouraged to 
abandon themselves to these exercises. In doing 
so, they think, feel, act, live through and through. 
Mechanical, perfunctory performance and speech 
serve no good purpose whatever; they merely help 
to develop and confirm the habit of making the 
minimal use of language, — of getting the least 
possible meaning out of language that is read or 
heard, of putting the least possible meaning into 
language that is used. 

Children naturally abandon themselves sympa- 
thetically to such exercises as these, when they feel 
free to do so. You may find the recess period the 
most suitable time for you to start the children — 
and to join with them — in these exercises. They 
will be found as interesting as any games. When 
these exercises are taken up in the classroom, let it 
be with all the wholesome freedom and spontaneity 
of the recess period. 

Ill (30). Conversation and Dramatizing 

The children come to this exercise prepared — as 
far as they can prepare — to dramatize the story of 
the Linden. They have read it and reread it; they 
have answered to themselves questions that bring 
out the chief events of the story and the main char- 



CONVERSATION AND DRAMATIZING 39 

acteristics of the actors; they have prepared other 
questions which they wish to ask ; they have prac- 
ticed doing and saying things as they were done and 
said by the people in the story ; each one has thought 
which parts he would like to play, and which children 
he would like to have play the other parts. 

What preparation shall the teacher have made, 
and how shall she conduct this exercise — which is 
to culminate in the dramatization of the story — 
so as to enlist fully the thought and the activity of 
the children ? She must have so mastered the sub- 
ject matter of the story, have formulated so clearly 
the plan of procedure, that she may be entirely un- 
hampered by books, either the pupils' or her own. 
The exercise may well consist of two parts : First, 
questions and answers on the actors, actions, events, 
and conversation of the story, and the choice of 
children to take the various parts ; and, second, the 
dramatizing. 

The first part should be carried out in systematic, 
progressive order, so that everything may stand out 
clearly, with no confusion, in the pupils' minds. It 
must be so carried out that the children will have, 
and wall feel that they have, a large active part in 
the matter. They must ask questions, they must 
make suggestions about the children to take the 
different parts, and about the way these parts are 
to be acted. The teacher will direct and make ef- 
fective the questions and suggestions of the children. 



4 o TEACHER'S MANUAL . 

The following outline of questions and sugges- 
tions, to be supplemented by such others as the 
children may ask or offer, or as the teacher may 
find necessary, will indicate more definitely the 
course which the first, or preparatory, part of the 
exercise should take. 

People in the story. 

Little Plant. 

Where did the little plant live? 

Choose a child to be the little plant. 

At the beginning of the play should she stand or sit? 

Where shall we have her seated? 

Oak Tree. . 

What kind of tree was the oak ? 

What kind of voice do you think he had? 

Choose a child to be the oak tree. 

Did the oak tree grow near the little plant? 

Then where should the child who plays the oak tree stand ? 

Did any other trees grow near the oak tree and the little 

plant ? 
Choose five children for these other trees. 

The Crow. 

Show how the old crow came to the little plant. 

Choose a child for the crow. 

This child may hop to the little plant. 

The child calls " Can't ! Can't ! " just as a crow calls 

"Caw! Caw!" 
The crow flew away from the little plant — you may show 

how. 



CONVERSATION AND DRAMATIZING 41 

The Wind. 

How did the wind blow? 

Choose a child for the wind. 

Blow, " Oo-00-ooo," like the wind. 

The little plant moved when the wind blew, — show how, 

The Sun and the Rain. 

How did the sun speak to the little plant ? 

Whom did he ask to help ? 

Choose children for the sun and the rain. 

The sun and the rain gave the little plant a friendly hand to 

help her grow, — show how. 
Let the pupils playing the sun and the rain give the child 

playing the little plant a hand, and lift her slowly to her 

feet. 

While the above questions occupy considerable 
space, the points that they cover, and others that 
will be suggested, can be brought out very rapidly 
in an oral exercise for which teacher and pupils are 
thoroughly prepared, and which is conducted with 
spirit and animation. Dawdling, either of pupils 
or teacher, will spoil the exercise and leave it un- 
finished at the end of the language period. 

All is now ready for the first dramatization of 
the story. The children who have been chosen for 
the several parts should be allowed to carry it out 
as they conceive it. Encourage and commend 
freedom and originality in action and conversation. 
Each one should be true to the character of the 
part he is playing ; he will be so the more easily if 



42 TEACHER'S MANUAL 

he makes no effort to remember the exact words 
that were used in the story. 

When the play is completed, discuss with the 
children briefly the merits of it, encouraging each 
one to form discriminating judgments concerning 
its merits and defects. Make up quickly another 
cast, with suggestions from the children, and have 
it played again. The second group of players will, 
of course, try to improve upon the performance of 
the first. If there is time, a third and even a fourth 
group may dramatize. 

Reread the suggestions about dramatizing made 
in connection with the dramatizing of Grand Tusk 
a7id Nimble (p. 14). The dramatizing of stories 
need not be limited to the formal language period. 
Nothing will better serve for a few moments of re- 
laxation, when that is needed. By introducing 
dramatizing in this way, every child may have fre- 
quent opportunity to take part, and every story 
dramatized is kept fresh in the children's minds. 
Care must be taken to improve the performance by 
repetition, to make it more spontaneous and natural, 
to give it new touches of interest; if this is not 
done, it will become mechanical and perfunctory. 

IV (30). Oral Reproduction of the Story of the Linden 

First, have the story dramatized as effectively as 
possible, that the actors and events may be brought 
vividly and in order to the mind of each child. 



ORAL REPRODUCTION 43 

The story should be reproduced from beginning 
to end, if possible without interruption. One child 
may reproduce it entire, or each part may be repro- 
duced by a different child. Let the first reproduc- 
tion be undertaken by a child, or children, who can 
do it well. 

Discuss the reproduction with the children, train- 
ing them to discriminate the good and the weak 
points. Perhaps it will be agreed after the first 
reproduction that the events were related clearly 
and in the right order, and that the several actors 
were made to say what they should, but that the 
distinctive characteristics of these actors, as the 
weakness and earnestness of the little plant, the 
strength of the oak, the scorn of the crow, the cold 
roughness of the wind, and the warm sympathy of 
the sun and the rain, were not adequately represented 
by voice and manner. The next child to try the 
reproduction must aim consciously to reproduce the 
events and the ideas of the conversation just as well 
as was done at first, and to bring out the character- 
istics of the little plant, the oak tree, and the rest, 
better. When he has finished, all the listening 
children must be able to tell whether, and to what 
extent, the child succeeded in his effort, and wherein 
he failed. Perhaps he maintained the first satisfac- 
tory reproduction of the events and the ideas of the 
conversation, and brought out well the characteristics 
of all the actors except those of the mocking crow 



44 TEACHER'S MANUAL 

and the rough wind. Let the next child try to 
equal all the good points of this performance and to 
represent more adequately the characters of the 
crow and the wind. 

So with every reproduction. The child who is 
giving it must try consciously for a definite, superior 
result; the listening children must judge the success 
of this definite effort. Never allow a single repro- 
duction in which the child is reproducing merely 
because you have told him to reproduce. Never 
call on a child to improve a reproduction already 
given until it is perfectly clear to that child and to 
all the children just wherein the improvement is to 
be attempted. 

V (31). Telling True Stories 

As essential truth is necessary to the story of the 
imagination, so imagination is necessary to the true 
story; both truth and imagination are indispensable 
to all real stories. The truth of the one is generic, 
of the other concrete ; both live in the imagination. 

The study and appreciation of both types of 
stories is necessary to the fullest enjoyment and use 
of either. Rightly handled, there is not the slight- 
est danger that this will lead to confusion of fact and 
fancy in the child's mind. 

Study with the children the suggestive questions 
in their book and help them to weave their experi- 
ences which these questions suggest into connected 



TELLING TRUE STORIES 45 

narratives. These stories might work out some- 
what as follows : 

1. One day I had a package of radish seeds. I planted them 
in my plot in the school garden. I helped the little seeds to grow 
by making the ground soft. I pulled up all the weeds. I watered 
the seeds. After a while my radishes were grown. I pulled them 
and took them home. We had them for supper. 

2. One day as I was coming to school I met a little girl about 
three years old. She was crying. I asked her, " What is the 
matter?" She said, "I can't find my mother." Then I knew 
she was lost. So I took her home and then ran all the way to 
school, for I did not want to be late. 

The above are merely suggestions of the form and 
simplicity of scores of stories that children are — or 
may easily become — capable of telling ; they have 
only to learn to command their own experiences, to 
read the stories in their experiences, much as they are 
learning to read the story in a picture. You must 
help them, much as you help them to read pictures ; 
you must help them to become conscious of their story 
material. You must help each one to appreciate 
and use his own story material — different from that 
of any other ; this will give a wealth of individuality 
in the stories. 

Numerous, varied, and suggestive questions will 
help every child to recall something from his own 
experience that may serve for the basis of a story. 
For example, if the thought of the story is to be 
helpfulness, ask questions such as the following : 



46 TEACHER'S MANUAL 

Did you ever help a smaller child who had fallen ? had hurt 
himself? had lost something ? was in the road in danger ? was 
near the water? near the fire ? Did you ever help a child who 
could not do some work that had been given him — at home or in 
school ? 

Did you ever tell or show any one how to find some place, as a 
certain street, or the station, or the post office ? 

Did you ever carry anything for an old person? help one 
across a crowded street ? along a slippery walk ? up a steep hill ? 
into a car or train? Did you ever give your seat in a car to some 
one older or weaker than yourself ? 

Did you ever shovel a path, weed a garden, run an errand, 
bring in wood, care for baby, sweep a room, wash dishes ? 

Such questions as these will not only help the 
children to recall their experiences, they will suggest 
experiences that they may make their own. To 
reenforce this suggestion, tell them that in one week 
you will have another exercise in telling true stories 
of helpfulness. 

Let all stories be short, clear, and pointed. When 
conversation is involved, encourage the use of direct 
quotation ; this makes the narration more vivid. 

VI (32). Sentences, Capitals, Statements, and Periods 

Study this lesson with the children. Do not do 
for them what their book tells them to do, but help 
them, when they need it, to understand just what 
everything means in their book, and see that they 
do as directed. 

This first lesson in the use of forms, the capital to 



SENTENCES, CAPITALS, STATEMENTS, PERIODS 47 

begin the first word of a sentence and the period 
after a statement, is typical of the method employed 
throughout in developing the habit of correct usage. 
Note these steps in the process of developing the 
habit of using a capital to begin the first word of a 
sentence.* First, a clear grasp by the pupil, through 
directed observation, of the fact that a capital letter 
is used to begin the first word of sentences; second, 
the statement to the pupil, and the understanding 
by him, of the general rule that the first word of 
every sentence must begin with a capital ; third, the 
examination of sentences to find out with what kind 
of letter the first word of each begins, and the 
application of the rule to justify the use of capitals; 
and fourth, the conscious application of the rule in 
writing — at this time merely in copying — capitals 
to begin the first words of sentences. Observe that 
the steps in teaching to use the period after a state- 
ment are exactly the same. 

This one lesson has taught the child how to 
begin every sentence and how to end every state- 
ment. There is no exception to these rules, and 
there is absolutely nothing more to teach on the 
subject. The one thing still necessary — and this 
is necessary — is that the child put into practice 

* Any definition or characterization of a sentence at this time will confuse 
rather than enlighten the pupil. Talk about sentences freely, refer to them 
as sentences, and children will gradually and unconsciously learn the essential 
characteristics of a sentence, something that no definition yet framed can 
impart to them. 



48 TEACHER'S MANUAL 

what he has learned about the use of capitals and 
the period. At first, and for a long time, this prac- 
tice must be conscious. Every time that he begins 
a sentence or ends a statement, the child must tell 
himself, or some one else, why he is using the capital 
and the period. If there be permitted no break — 
and there must be none — in this consciously correct 
use of the capital and the period, it will never again 
be necessary to teach this matter to the children 
who have learned this lesson. As the habit be- 
comes fixed through many and frequent repetitions, 
the explicit thought of the reason for these usages 
will become unnecessary, and will fade away of its 
own accord, subject to recall only when needed. 

The conventional forms to be learned in order to 
write correctly are but few. The correct use of most 
of them is learned just as easily as that of the capital 
at the beginning of a sentence and of the period 
at the end of a statement. And all of them are best 
learned in substantially the manner outlined above. 
Little teaching and much practice is required. The 
simple secret of progress is to hold fast to what has 
once been learned by always using it correctly. 

VII (35)- Copying Sentences to Learn the Use of 
Capitals and Period 

This is the child's first written language lesson. 
The teacher should read with the children the direc- 
tion about telling themselves why they make every 



COPYING SENTENCES 49 

capital and every period, and make sure that every 
child understands and will carry out this direction. 
The children may need reminding occasionally as the 
copying proceeds. All these precautions will reduce 
the number of mistakes, — which are better avoided 
than corrected. 

In this first written exercise, every child must use 
correctly, must be made to use correctly, must know 
that he is using correctly, the capital and the period 
as he learned in the last lesson that these must be 
used. Hence, every child's paper must be examined 
by the teacher and corrected, if necessary, by the 
child, at once. This examination and correction is 
a part of the exercise. It were better to omit the 
exercise altogether than to omit the correction of it, 
— and to defer this is nearly as bad as to omit it. 

The teacher should begin her examination as 
soon as the pupils begin to write, passing by their 
desks, and stopping for the immediate correction of 
every error that she discovers. Corrections should 
be made as follows : 

If a child has begun a sentence with a small letter, the teacher 
asks, " What kind of letter should you have used? Why?" 

When this answer, which the teacher must exact, has been 
made by the child, " A capital letter, because the first word of 
every sentence should begin with a capital letter," the teacher 
says, " Do it." 

If a child has omitted the period at the end of a statement, 
the teacher asks, " What should you have placed after this state- 
ment? Why?" 



50 TEACHER'S MANUAL 

She must insist on the answer, " A period, because there should 
be a period after every statement." The correction by the child 
then follows. 

Do not let your questions calling attention to the 
error, be merely a signal for the child to correct it. 
It is quite as important that the child answer your 
questions as it is that he make the correction. An- 
swer and correction together insure that he does the 
thing right and that he knows why he does it. Will 
not the frequent repetition of these answers finally 
make them perfunctory ? Of course ; so will the ac- 
companying correct use of capitals and the period 
finally become perfunctory. But this i's only another 
way of saying that the habit of using capitals and 
the period under the conditions given is formed. 
Errors in other things than the two for which this 
exercise is given, as in spelling, should be called to 
the attention of the pupil, and he should correct by 
making his copy like the original. 

VIII (35). Studied Dictation for Drill in Use of 
Capitals and Period 

Three minutes of real application should be quite 
time enough for pupils to prepare the lesson to write 
from dictation. See that each one applies himself 
to it as he is directed to do in his book. 

Have pupils close their books. Let one pupil — 
not one of the best nor one of the poorest — go to a 
blackboard in plain view of the class. With the undi- 



STUDIED DICTATION 51 

vided attention of every one, dictate a complete sen- 
tence, clearly, distinctly, and slowly. Have all pupils 
in concert repeat the sentence, clearly, distinctly, and 
slowly. Then let the one at the board write it. The 
others watch closely to detect any mistake. 

Let each sentence be corrected as soon as written. 
Let the corrections be made just as directed in the 
last lesson. Pupils at the seats, as called upon, 
may indicate where there is an error, and the one 
at the board may tell, if he can, what the correction 
should be, and why ; then he may make it. Or 
pupils at seats, as called upon, may tell what correc- 
tions to make, and why ; then the one at the board, 
or some other, as directed, may make the correc- 
tions. Never fail to have given, by some one, the 
reason for the correct form before it is made. 

Proceed in this way with each sentence. If 
there is time, erase the sentences from the board, 
and have them written and corrected again in the 
same way. This time let the dictation be taken 
by one of the poorer pupils. 

Never break a sentence in the dictation, reading 
only two or three words at a time. The exercise 
is not on the writing of words, but of sentences. 
Given as directed above, it is not difficult for chil- 
dren to grasp and to hold in mind the whole sen- 
tence while they write it. Far fewer mistakes will 
be made when dictation is taken by sentences, 
rather than by words, or even by phrases. Do not 



52 



TEACHER'S MANUAL 



be swerved from this plan just because some children 
forget the sentence before they have completed it. 
Let them do better with the next one. Much prac- 
tice of this kind in grasping sentences as wholes has 
a most important influence on the development of 
the sentence sense, of the feeling for a completed 
thought adequately expressed in a definite group of 
related words. 

IX (36). Unstudied Dictation to Test the Use of 
Capitals and Period 

The sentences below contain no word not used 
in 1, page 34, of the pupils' book. Hence, they 
should be able to spell every word without study. 
If you think it necessary, however, write on the 
board the two or three that may give trouble, 
let the children pronounce and spell them aloud, 
then erase them. Now dictate, as directed in the 
last lesson, these sentences. Let the children 
write on paper; it is a test exercise, in which each 
one should show what he can do absolutely alone. 
Let them understand clearly the two things for 
which the exercise is especially given, the use of 
the capital to begin every sentence and the use of 
the period to end every statement. 

The little plant was sad. 

She tried to grow. 

The oak tree tossed his branches. 

He was proud. 

He looked down on the little plant. 



QUESTIONS AND THE QUESTION MARK 53 

Have the pupils correct their work at once, just as 
directed in a previous exercise (p. 49). 

X (36). Questions and the Question Mark 

Study with the children their first lesson on 
questions and the use of the question mark. 
Merely help them to study out and to understand 
the lesson for themselves. 

'Note that this is a type lesson, similar to the 
lesson on the use of capitals and the period. As 
that lesson taught everything that can be taught 
about the use of a capital to begin a sentence and 
a period to end a statement, so this lesson teaches 
all that can be taught about the use of a capital to 
begin, and a question mark to close a sentence that 
asks a question. The study and the practice now 
necessary to form the habit of correct usage in 
this matter must follow the principles and plan 
outlined in connection with Exercise VII (p. 48). 
Study that lesson again most carefully. The ap- 
plication of its teaching is fundamental to your 
success as a language teacher. 

XI (38). Copying Questions to Learn the Use of 
Capitals and the Question Mark 

Have pupils correct mistakes in this copying 
exercise at once. Begin the examination of their 
work as soon as they begin to write. Follow di- 
rections already given (VII, p. 49). 



54- 



TEACHER'S MANUAL 



If a child has failed to place a question mark at 
the end of a question, ask : " What kind of mark 
should be used after this sentence ? Why ? " Insist 
on the answer : " A question mark, because a ques- 
tion mark must be placed after every sentence that 
asks a question." Then let the child make the 
correction at once. 

e 

XII (39). Using Capitals and the Period 

This is a lesson to be corrected as it is written, 
and according to previous directions (VII, p. 49). 

XIII (40). Picture Stories 

(The toy shop picture, p. 41) 

Make preparation for the study of this lesson with 
the children, as directed in Chapter One (p. 22). The 
number of distinct and interesting stories, that may 
be worked out of this picture is almost unlimited. 
The pupils' book and the supplementary work below 
suggest several ; sketch in your mind the possibili- 
ties of several more stories, so as to be prepared to 
encourage every sign of originality that the children 
may show. 

Help the children to understand and study the 
lesson as outlined for them in their book. The 
center of interest in any story that may be worked 
out is in the actions of the children before the win- 
dow. Experience with the picture, however, shows 



PICTURE STORIES 55 

that pupils direct their attention first to the toys ; 
hence the order of the questions in their book. 
When they have somewhat satisfied their own in- 
terest in the toys they are ready to consider the 
picture children, their relation to the toys and to 
each other. The children's own interests in the 
toys to which they first give expression prepare them 
to interpret sympathetically the interests of the 
picture children. Encourage such interpretation in 
working out the stories ; for instance, let the pupils 
choose the presents they would select if they were 
the poor children. 

Help the children to finish the stories suggested 
in their book, but let them do the thinking. This 
is the opportunity for them to show their originality ; 
do not deprive them of the opportunity. Your 
function is to help them to express their conceptions 
in an orderly and effective way. 

When the lesson has thus been worked out, have 
several children tell a complete story. Let each one 
choose his own standpoint, that of the rich or the 
poor children. Encourage originality in the 
stories — even in those told from the same stand- 
point. Do not let a child merely repeat from 
memory the story that another child has told ; this 
has slight value and is not in harmony with the 
spirit and purpose of all this picture story work. 

Without discouraging, try to prevent the children 
rambling in their story-telling, bringing in many 



56 TEACHER'S MANUAL 

irrelevant details. Encourage concise, connected 
thought and statement, point and climax; let every 
statement advance the story a distinct point toward 
the climax. All of this makes for brevity. 

Have children choose good titles for their stories. 

Supplementary Work 

i. Have one of the poor children tell the story to 
his mother on his return home. 

2. Let one of the rich children tell the story to 
his mother. 

3. Let any one of the toys tell the story. 

In order to tell consistently any of the stories 
above suggested the pupil must become as com- 
pletely as possible the poor child, the rich child, or 
some particular toy, that he decides to represent. 
This is not a difficult thing for children to do when 
they understand clearly what is required and when 
you insist that they maintain to the end the char- 
acter once assumed. Do not permit a child to begin 
a story in the character of a toy, for instance, and 
then forget his role and finish the story as a child — 
himself or one of the children of the picture. 

Suppose the doll is to tell her story. It might 
run something as follows : 

The Doll's Story 

I was born in a far-off land called Germany. I came across the 
great ocean in a ship full of toys that were coming as Christmas 



SUPPLEMENTARY WORK 57 

gifts for little boys and girls in America. I was taken from the 
ship to a large shop and placed in the .wide window with ever so 
many other toys. But oh, how lonely I felt, for there was not 
another German doll in sight. How I wished some dear little 
girl would buy me and love me, O so much ! 

The day before Christmas three poor children came and stood 
before the window. 

(It will be easy to finish the story, telling what the poor chil- 
dren said, the coming of the rich children, who bought the doll, 
who took it home, etc.) 

After making sure that the children understand 
what is required, perhaps by working out with them 
the doll's story, let each child choose for himself the 
story he will tell — that is, the child or the toy that 
he will represent. Allow the children a few min- 
utes, with their books open at the picture before 
them, to think out their stories. Then have told 
orally as many different stories by as many different 
children as time permits. 

See that the children choose appropriate titles for 
their stories. 

4. The story lends itself readily to dramatization. 
In the simplest form, the shop window and toys may 
be entirely imaginary, or sketches might be made 
of them on the blackboard. To make it more real- 
istic, pupils might bring a variety of toys from home 
and arrange them in a "shop window/' In addition 
to the six children representing those shown in the 
pictures, other children might take the parts of their 
mothers. Thus the whole dramatization could be 



58 TEACHER'S MANUAL 

elaborated sufficiently for a Christmas entertain- 
ment. 

5. Tell the story of a toy that wanted to be chosen 
but was not. 

XIV (43). More Picture Stories 

(Outside the garden picture, p. 45) 

On account of the fundamental similarity in the 
stories suggested by this picture and those of the 
shop window picture, the children come to this 
study somewhat prepared. They should here show 
the results of their previous work. 

Study with the children the lesson as presented in 
their book. Do not forget that they, not you, are to 
take the lead in thinking. Note that in the children's 
book, following the fourth question, suggestions are 
given for three distinct stories. Each of these sug- 
gestions may be developed something like this: 

1. Suppose the boy has no home. Obviously he must find a 
home. Where? In this big house as an adopted son? With the 
gardener as his helper? 

2. Suppose the boy 's father wants work. How can the little 
girl help him to get work? If the boy's father should become 
gardener, where will the little boy perhaps live? 

3. Suppose the boy \r mother is ill. What will the little girl do? 
Will any one go to see the sick mother? What will be taken or 
sent to her? When she is better what will be done for her? 
What part will the boy play in all this? 

These three are only a few of the many stories 
that might be told. Before developing any one of 



TELLING TRUE STORIES 59 

these beyond the mere suggestion, have the children 
suggest as many other possible stories as they can. 
Encourage each one to think out his own story. 
Show them how to weave their thoughts together 
into a straightforward, complete story. To do this 
it will probably be necessary to work out with them, 
perhaps to tell them, one whole story as a model of 
form, — not of content. When they are ready, let 
several children tell their stories. 

Children should be taught to give an appropriate 
title to every story they tell. 

Supplementary Work 

1. Telling additional stories. 

An exercise may well be devoted to the thinking out 
by the children — with such help as they may need — 
and the telling of several stories differing materially 
from those suggested in the pupils' book, but involving, 
of course, the boy and the girl as the chief characters. 
Encourage each pupil to tell more than one story. 

2. The story may be easily dramatized. 

XV (44). Telling True Stories 

Help children — as much as necessary, but no 
more — to put their answers to the questions in their 
book into good story form. If they are able only to 
answer these questions disconnectedly, show them 
how to join their thoughts, then let them reproduce 
the resultant story. They will quickly learn to con- 
nect their thoughts themselves. 



60 TEACHER'S MANUAL 

XVI (46). Studying the Poem, "Spring Waking" 

1. Read the poem to the children; bring out the 
meaning and the various and contrasted feelings as 
fully as possible. 

2. Help the children to study the poem, following 
the questions in their book. 

The poem is just full of delightful little scenes — 
the snowdrop curled up fast asleep in the dark 
ground with a blanket of white snow over all, the 
bright sun shining warm and calling cheerily to the 
snowdrop, the awakening, the popping of the little 
snowdrop out of her bed in her white nightcap, and 
all the rest. All these pictures the children must 
see clearly in their imaginations — this is not diffi- 
cult if the matter is rightly handled; they must also 
feel with the sun and with the snowdrop, as the con- 
versation between the two and the brief descriptions 
suggest. The questions in the pupils' book and the 
reading of certain lines are designed to help the 
children to see the scenes in imagination, and to feel 
with the sun and the snowdrop. Have them read 
and reread the lines suggested until you are sure 
from their emphasis and expression that they 
are expressing the feelings, the thoughts, the mental 
pictures that they are actually experiencing. This 
is reading; this is appreciating literature. 

If any child has never seen a snowdrop, show one 
if you can. The next best thing is a picture or a 



PART READING AND DRAMATIZING 61 

drawing on the blackboard, with such description as 
will enable the child to form an approximately correct 
mental picture. 

Your skill as a teacher is shown in your insight 
and resourcefulness in aiding the children to utilize 
such experiences as they have had in their efforts to 
appreciate thought and feeling represented by printed 
words. For instance, it may help the children to a 
sympathetic appreciation of the snowdrop's part if 
you make reference to their feelings at the call to 
get up early on a cold morning. When they have 
finally made up their minds to arise, do they do it 
slowly, or do they "pop " out of bed just as the snow- 
drop did ? After they are up and dressed and out 
in the cheerful sunlight, do they want to go back to 
bed again, or are they glad, as the snowdrop was ? 

The general lesson of the poem is quite similar 
to that of the myth, The Little Plant and the Oak 
Tree, the first story in this chapter. It will be a 
good test of the children's understanding of both the 
myth and the poem to see whether they will note 
the similarity. Perhaps a few questions, helping 
them to recall and to compare the myth with the 
poem, will be necessary. 

XVII (50). Part Reading and Dramatizing a Poem 

Let the teacher read the narrative parts of Spring 
Waking while two children take the parts of the 
sun and the snow r drop, like this: 



62 TEACHER'S MANUAL 

First Stanza. 

Teacher: A snowdrop lay in the sweet dark ground, 

Sun : Come out, come out ! 

Teacher : But she lay quite still and she heard no sound ; 

Sun : Asleep, no doubt ! 

Second Stanza. 

Teacher : The snowdrop heard, for she raised her head, 

Sun : Look spry, look spry ! 

Snowdrop : It's warm here in bed. 

Sun : Oh, fie ! Oh, fie ! 

Such part reading is excellent preparation for 
dramatizing, which should follow the reading. The 
snowdrop may be covered with a white apron (the 
snow). The conversation between the sun and the 
snowdrop should follow the order and the ideas of 
the poem, but not necessarily the exact words. A 
third child might be introduced to represent the 
robin, who speaks or sings something like this : 
" Cheer-up, cheer-up ! Snowdrop is awake ! The 
air is growing warm ! Cheer-up, cheer-up ! " 

XVIII (50). Learning to Tell a Story 

Help pupils to work out an interesting, connected 
story from the poem, Spring Waking, following the 
suggestions given in the pupils' book. This is no 
trivial requirement of the pupil at this stage of his 
progress. He must get the thought from the poem 
in connected, progressive order, and then express it 
clearly and connectedly in his own language. It 



ORAL REPRODUCTIONS 63 

will not do to make a dry, condensed statement of 
the main ideas of the story, as,- " The snowdrop was 
asleep under the snow, the sun called her, and she 
got up." On the contrary, the story should contain 
rather more detail than the poem gives ; especially 
may the conversation be elaborated to advantage. 
The expression should be appropriate ; a colorless 
statement of facts does not make a story. The con- 
versational parts call for animation and inflection; 
even something of dramatic action will aid. 

In helping the children to work out the story, they 
may well take turns, one telling a portion, that one 
followed by another telling the next portion, and so 
on. Each child's contribution should be encour- 
agingly criticized and suggestions for improvement 
made when necessary ; then the child should try 
again until he has made his part satisfactory. This 
will help the children to form the habit of judging 
their own efforts critically. 

XIX (51). Oral Reproductions 

Have pupils tell the complete story of the sun 
and the snowdrop. This must not be mere perfunc- 
tory repetition. Each pupil should do his best ; then 
his production should be definitely criticized by pupils 
and teacher, in a kindly way of course, and always 
with suggestions for improvement. Then each one 
following should try to retain all the good points of 
previous ones and to make improvements. 



CHAPTER THREE 

Before taking up this chapter with the children, 
mastej* its content and purposes yourself. Study it 
thoroughly both in the children's book and in this 
Manual so that you may understand clearly what 
you are to do and what the children are to do — 
alone, and under your guidance. Compare carefully 
the exercises of this chapter in content, form, and 
purpose with the work already done in previous 
chapters. Read again the introductory paragraphs 
of Chapters One and Two (pp. j-8, 35-36) ; they 
apply equally here. 

Several things that you should observe in this 
preparatory and comparative study : 

1. In the continuation of the several different types of 
work already begun — reading, dramatizing, oral story 
telling, and the rest — there is gradual and constant advance 
in the opportunities and demands made upon the children 
for original, independent thought and effort. For examples, 
they must learn to take the initiative more and more in the 
preparation and execution of a dramatization ; to study more 
independently; to use more originality in conception and 
expression. 

2. Copying and dictation are used always with definite 
purpose — usually to teach, fix, and test pupils' mastery of 
the use of various language forms. 

64 



READING THE STORY 65 

3. The new work presented in this chapter : 

(a) Titles — studied, copied, and written from dicta- 
tion; making and writing original titles. 
(ft) The first lesson in written reproduction of a story. 
(c) Copying, memorizing, and writing poetry from 
memory. 

I (52). Reading the Story, "Mabel and the Fairy Polk" 

Let- the teacher read this story to the children, 
and read it so well that every one will be inspired 
to read up to the teacher's standard, when he has 
the opportunity. Even teachers cannot do their 
best without practice and rehearsal. 

Now have the story read in dialogue form by the 
children. Thus, in the first part, " Mabel and the 
Fairy Queen," have one child take the part of 
Grandmother, another the part of Mabel, and a third 
that of the Fairy Queen, each one reading only 
what is said by the one he represents. All short 
explanatory parts that are not generally necessary 
to the understanding of the conversation, such as, 
" said Grandmother one morning," should be omitted. 
Longer descriptive or narrative parts, like the fourth, 
sixth, eighth, the end of the ninth, and the tenth 
paragraphs of the first part, should be read by a 
child designated for this, or better, in this first 
exercise of the kind, by the teacher. 

For the second part, " Mabel and the Brownies," 
five children are necessary to take the parts of 



66 TEACHER'S MANUAL 

Grandmother, Mabel, and three Brownies. For the 
last part, " Mabel and the Elves," five children are 
also necessary for Grandmother, Mabel, and three 
elves. 

To take any of these parts well, the one taking it 
must have some rather clear conception of the 
character of the person he is trying to represent. 
Without that conception, it is manifestly impossible 
to speak intelligently as that person did. What 
kind of person was Grandmother ? Mabel ? the 
Fairy Queen ? What kind of people were the 
brownies? the elves? Discuss these matters briefly 
with the children before their reading begins. It is 
not necessary that there be agreement ; it is impor- 
tant that each one have some conception of the 
character of the persons who speak in the story, and 
whose conversation is now to be taken by the 
children. 

Discuss with the children the rendering of the 
several parts, to bring out clearly — in a way that 
every child can understand — the good features of 
each one and those features needing improvement. 
With every child knowing just what improvements 
in each part are to be made, have the story reread 
— a section at a time — by children who have not 
previously taken part. Let the listening children 
determine whether each desired improvement has 
been made. Do not leave the story, or any part of 
it, until the improvement determined upon has been 



DRAMATIZING 67 

made, until the children recognize that it has been 
made, even if you have to make this improvement 
yourself. 

II (55). Dramatizing "Mabel and the Fairy Folk" 

Have the story read once again, in dialogue form 
as before. Let the principal parts be taken by chil- 
dren who took minor or no parts at the previous 
readings. Let the reading be the very best of which 
the children are capable. 

This, with the previous readings, should be suffi- 
cient preparation for the dramatizing. The pupils 
must be made, from the beginning, to feel large 
responsibility for a successful dramatization ; and 
yet, on no account must they be allowed to fail. 
This means that the teacher must have clearly in 
mind, at the outset, just how the dramatization may 
be arranged and carried out in its every detail. It 
means equally that the teacher must hold her concep- 
tions severely in reserve. The teachers concep- 
tions are for her own use, not for the direct use of 
the pupils ; they are to enable the teacher at every 
point, and without hesitation, to ask the question, to 
give the hint or the suggestion, that will enable the 
pupils to make and to carry out their own plans for 
the dramatization. 

So give to your pupils — and do this with con- 
fidence — the initiative in assigning the parts, in 
locating the different scenes, and in suggesting the 



68 TEACHER'S MANUAL 

scenery — spring, pitcher, trees, flowers — which may 
all be imaginary. Recall the directions and sug- 
gestions given for dramatizing in previous lessons. 
(See pp. 14, 38.) 

Ill (55). Oral Questions 

Allow the pupils not more than eight or ten 
minutes to prepare this exercise; even five minutes 
of application is vastly better for them, and will give 
better results, than will a half-hour of dawdling. 
See to it that they are concentrating their attention 
every instant on the work before them. Remember 
that they are just beginning to learn how to study; 
it is a critical time. If you take this study period 
as a convenient time for you to do something not 
connected with the pupils' study, if you forget them 
for fifteen minutes, then find, on inquiry, that none 
of them has "had time" to get through with all the 
questions, if you then allow them a "few minutes 
more," — while you continue with your own affairs, 
— and if, finally, when you take up the recitation, 
you find wandering attention, little interest, and less 
knowledge, do not be in the least surprised. That 
is just what you should expect with that kind of 
preparation. And if you permit such study periods 
regularly, frequently, or even occasionally, and if later 
you hear grammar teachers, high school teachers, 
and college professors complain that their pupils 
have never learned to study, to concentrate their 



ORAL QUESTIONS 69 

minds on the task before them, do not be surprised. 
You might have foretold this result, because in 
those pupils' first study lessons you did all that 
could be done then to bring it to pass. 

The pupils' study period — particularly when pu- 
pils are just learning how to study — demands the 
undivided and concentrated attention of the teacher. 
The pervading influence of this example, were there 
really nothing for the teacher to do, would be abun- 
dant warrant for it. But the teacher thus con- 
centrating her attention on her studying pupils will 
be fully occupied; this pupil will need a hint or a 
suggestion, that one a question, another a bit of 
encouragement, still another perhaps a sharp recall 
to his task, and so on. The teacher must realize 
that the habit of concentration — or of dissipation — 
which the pupils are now forming, is of infinitely 
more importance than is the learning of the lesson 
before them. 

At the end of this brief but concentrated study 
period — it is not at all necessary to wait for every 
pupil to have answered to himself every question — 
have all books closed, your own as well as the 
pupils'. Ask questions to bring out systematically 
and progressively the main ideas of the story; see 
that your questions include most of those that the 
pupils have been studying in their book. Do not 
fail to have the pupils ask at least the questions 
they were directed in their book to prepare ; en- 



70 TEACHER'S MANUAL 

courage them to ask others. Do not, however, 
permit questions or comments that are irrelevant. 
Train to concentration of thought, and give a con- 
stant example of it ; this is just as important in the 
recitation as in the study period. 

Supplementary Work * 

The story, Mabel and the Fairy Folk, may be re- 
produced orally. The reading, the dramatizing, and 
the study should have prepared pupils to do this 
well. Recall the directions and suggestions about 
oral reproduction already given (pp. 16, 42). Sup- 
plementary work, if undertaken at all, must, of 
course, be just as well done as though it were 
regular work. 

IV (57). Writing Questions 

Give your undivided attention to the pupils while 
they write the questions as directed in their book. 
First, see that every one understands what his book 
tells him to do ; then see that he does it as quickly 
and as well as possible. Let the quicker pupils 
keep busy, by writing more than three questions. 
Do not give more than eight or ten minutes to this 
part of the lesson, even though not all pupils com- 
plete three questions. 

* From this point on, supplementary work will be suggested frequently. 
This work is what the designation of it indicates ; none of the regular work 
depends upon it. It is offered for teachers to use in their discretion, when- 
ever time permits, or the needs of their class make it desirable. 



SUPPLEMENTARY WORK 71 

Impress upon the children the necessity of asking 
good, sensible questions. Give individual sugges- 
tion and help to those who need it. 

Now have papers exchanged, questions read, and 
answered orally, as follows : A child reads a ques- 
tion. If it is correctly written, he answers it in a 
sentence ; if anything is wrong about it, he says, " I 
shall not answer this question, because " (giv- 
ing the reason, as, " it does not begin with a capital 
letter "). Other questions are read and answered, or 
rejected, in the same way. The teacher should be 
in a position to see what mistakes, if any, the pupil 
reading makes. 

Supplementary Work 

1. Have papers read and answered that, for lack 
of time, may not have been taken up at the regular 
exercise. 

2. Have questions corrected by pupils who wrote 
them, giving reasons for their corrections, as directed 
in Chapter Two (VII, p. 48). 

3. Distribute the pupils' papers, which have 
been preserved for the purpose. Let pupils write 
answers to the questions, making a complete sentence 
for each answer. They should be reminded of the 
correct beginning and ending of statements. If this 
exercise is given, it must be carried out and cor- 
rected just as carefully, and in the same way, as a 
regular exercise. 



72 TEACHER'S MANUAL 

V (58). How Titles are Written 

Study this lesson with the pupils, making sure 
that they understand it, but giving only such direct 
help as may be necessary. This lesson contains 
the model for the study of titles. 

VI (59). Copying a Story 

The purpose of this lesson is to give the pupil 
drill in writing a title properly and to review the 
use of capitals to begin sentences, the period to end 
statements, and the question mark to end questions. 
On the blackboard, or on a sheet of paper held up 
before the class, show pupils: (1) where to place 
the title (in the middle of the page), (2) the space 
to leave between the title and the first line, and 
(3) the indention of the first line. About the in- 
dention of the first line, it will be sufficient at this 
time to tell and show them that there should be left 
a space of about one inch between the edge of the 
paper and the beginning of the first line, while that 
between the edge and other lines should be only 
half as much. The subject of margins will be 
taken up later. 

As the pupils copy, the teacher should be moving 
about among them, helping them, by a hint or a 
question, to avoid errors and to make corrections 
when necessary. The corrections are to be made 
as previously directed (p. 49). 



DICTATION 73 

VII (60). Dictation: "The Trees and the Woodcutter" 

The purpose of this exercise is to test and to 
apply the pupils' knowledge of the writing of a title 
and the correct use of capitals, period, and question 
mark. Dictate the story already studied and copied, 
The Trees and the Woodcutter. Let the exercise 
proceed like this : 

Teacher : This is the title, The Trees and the Woodcutter. 
Pupils repeat the title, The Trees and the Woodcutter, slowly 
and distinctly in concert. Then all write. 

Teacher : This is the first sentence, A woodcutter, etc. 
Pupils repeat the sentence in concert, then write it. 

Teacher : This is the next (or second) sentence, The trees, etc. 
Pupils repeat and write. 

The other sentences are dictated, repeated, and 
written in the same manner. It is worthy of note 
that whenever speaking of a sentence, the teacher 
uses the word "sentence." 

Pupils must be trained to concentrated attention 
in taking dictation. As a rule, the teacher should 
give a sentence only once ; pupils should repeat 
only once. Sentences must be given as wholes, 
never broken up into words. If your pupils are 
not yet capable of taking this dictation in this way, 
simplify and shorten it. Two short sentences can 
easily be made of the first rather long one ; the rest 
may be abbreviated and changed. Thus simplified, 
it might read as follows : 



74 TEACHER'S MANUAL 

A woodcutter went into the forest. He asked the trees to give 
him a handle for his ax. The trees gave him a young ash tree. 
He made a handle of it. Then what do you think happened? 
The woodcutter began to cut down the trees. Soon all the tall 
trees were laid low. Were they not well punished for giving up 
their little brother? 

* Read again carefully the suggestions about dicta- 
tion (p. 50). 

Let the exercise be corrected at once, as directed 
in Chapter Two (p. 51). 

This correction should take but a few minutes, if 
the teacher is accustomed to see quickly and to work 
rapidly. Pay especial attention to the correction of 
any mistakes in the title, as this is the new subject 
which is being taught. If a child has omitted a 
capital, insist that he give an exact and full state- 
ment of the reason for using it, thus, " The should 
have been begun with a capital because it is the first 
word of a title," or, " I should have begun trees with 
a capital because it is an important word of a title." 

VIII (60). Copying Titles 

The corrections of errors by the pupils should 
begin as soon as the first title is copied. The teacher 
passes about among the children as they work, and 
calls their attention to errors, as directed in Chapter 
Two (p. 49, VII). The reason for the correction 
must always be insisted upon before the correction 
is made by the pupil. 



SUPPLEMENTARY WORK 75 

Supplementary Work 

Write lists of titles upon the board for pupils to 
study and to recite upon. These may also be 
copied, and the work corrected. 

IX (61). Writing 1 Titles from Dictation 

Dictate the titles copied in Section VIII, p. 60. 
Have work corrected at once. 

Supplementary Work 

. Without study by the pupils, dictate several easy 
titles taken from stories in the reading book. Diffi- 
cult words should be spelled orally before pupils 
write them. One pupil may write at the board, 
while others look out for errors, or all may write at 
their seats. In either case, errors should be cor- 
rected, and reasons given for every correction, just 
as conscientiously as though this were regular 
instead of supplementary work. Better omit the 
supplementary work altogether than to let it be 
done shiftlessly. 

Some pupil may call attention to the fact that in 
some printed titles capital letters are used through- 
out. If this should happen, it would be well to 
have pupils examine titles in several of their books. 
They will probably discover that in some books the 
first letter of some words of the title is larger than 
the other letters, though all are capitals. When 
such is the case, let them discover, if they can, that 



76 TEACHER'S MANUAL 

the words beginning with the large capitals are the 
first and important words of the title. 

It may be easily explained that the rules given in 
the pupils' book concern written not printed titles. 

X (61). Giving Titles to Pictures 

Prepare pupils to make good titles by studying 
with them possible titles of pictures in Chapters One 
and Two. Get the children to give as many titles 
as possible that they think suitable for these pictures. 
Write all titles given on the blackboard. Criticize 
each, rejecting the poor ones and retaining the good 
ones. For example, such titles as the following may 
be suggested for the garden wall picture : 

The Boy Pointing. (Poor, because it does not recall the pic- 
ture as a whole, nor does it suggest any story that can be easily 
read from the picture.) 

The Ladder. (Poor, for reasons just given.) 
The Garden Wall. (Rather poor ; suggests little.) 
The Children Who Climbed to the Top of the Garden 
Wall. (Better than the preceding, but too long.) 

" O Look ! " (Good ; it arouses interest at once and suggests 
something of the story.) 

Seen from the Garden Wall. (Good, for reasons just given.) 

XI (61). Picture Stories 

(Santa Claus picture, p. 63) 

Let the pupils study the lesson in their book 
alone ; it should not be too difficult for them after 
the picture stories they have told in preceding 



PICTURE STORIES 77 

chapters. After the study, allow several to tell 
their stories in their own way, just as they have 
thought them out. Then you may offer sugges- 
tions for improving the stones. Probably sugges- 
tions will be chiefly needed to aid the children in 
putting their stories into better form. 

Perhaps some stories will run something like 
this : 

It was Christmas Eve. Will, Dick, and Lucy hung their 
stockings by the fireplace and went off to bed. 

" Don't go to sleep," said Dick. " Let us go into the sitting 
room and wait by our stockings till Santa Claus comes, and then 
we can tell him just what we want for Christmas." 

" Good ! " said Lucy. " I want to tell him just what kind of 
doll I want." 

"No," said Will. "Don't go. Santa does not like children 
to watch for him." 

But Dick and Lucy would not listen to Will. They crept 
softly into the sitting room and sat down before the fire to wait 
for Santa. 

Perhaps the remainder of the story will answer 
the following questions : 

How long did they have to wait ? 

At last what did they hear? 

What did they say? 

What did Santa say when he saw them? 

("Ah, ha! There are Dick and Lucy waiting for me. I'll 
go away and come back after they are asleep.") 

What did Santa Claus do? 

How did Dick and Lucy account for the noise they had 
heard? (The wind, snowslide, etc.) 



y8 TEACHER'S MANUAL 

What did they do? 

When Santa returned what did he put in Dick's and Lucy's 
stockings to show them that he did not like them to wait for 
him ? 

What did he give Will ? 

Did the children ever wait up for Santa Claus again? 

Supplementary Work 

Have the Christmas story told from different 
standpoints. Let the children choose freely who 
they will be ; then see that they keep to their 
chosen characters consistently in telling their story. 

i. Let the little boy who watched for Santa tell 
his story next day to one of his friends. 

2. Let the little girl tell her story to one of her 
friends. 

3. Let Santa Claus tell the story as one of his 
Christmas adventures. 

See that every story told is given a suitable title. 

XII (62). More Picture Stories 

(The monkey and the mirror, p. 65) 

After the pupils have studied the lesson in their 
books alone for a few minutes, let several of them 
try to tell the story. Help them only as much as 
is necessary to bring their ideas into connected, 
progressive order. 

Encourage all signs of originality. Work for 
brevity, life, point. If the children's stories soon 
get to be all alike and expressed in the same Ian- 



MORE PICTURE STORIES 79 

guage, you may be sure that they are not really 
telling their own stories, but merely parroting the 
stories of others. That must be stopped, even if, as 
a last resort, you have to stop the exercise to do it. 

As soon as the children's originality seems about 
exhausted, tell them this .^Esop fable. 

The Dog and his Image 

A dog with a piece of meat in his mouth was one day crossing 
a stream. Looking down into the clear water he saw his own 
image. The silly dog thought he saw another dog with another 
piece of meat. He made up his mind to get the second piece 
of meat, so he made a grab at his own shadow. But, in trying to 
get the image of a piece of meat, he lost the real piece he already 
had. 

This fable will serve as a model. It will stimulate 
the slower, less imaginative children ; it will show 
the more original how to arrange and present their 
ideas effectively. It will add a bit to the literary 
material that all children should be accumulating. 

After this fable has been told, discussed, and com- 
pared with the stories suggested by the monkey and 
mirror picture, have several children — particularly 
some of the slower ones — tell their stories of the 
monkey. Note the effect of the fable on their ren- 
dering. 

Have every child give an appropriate title to his 
story. As an attractive or suggestive title is an 
important part of any story, it is worth while to 
spend a good deal of time in criticizing, modifying, 



80 TEACHER'S MANUAL 

and comparing titles until the best one is found. 
Not all the stories, if they have any considerable 
individuality, should be fitted with the title, The 
Monkey and the Mirror; there might well be stories 
that such titles as these would fit better: The Greedy 
Monkey, The Two Monkeys, The Mirror's Trick, 
What the Candles Saw, He Will Know Better Next 
Time, He Will Never Do That Again. 

XIII (66). Telling True Stories 

Help children to make stories of their experiences 
suggested by the questions in their book. (See 
p. 44.) 

XIV (67). A Class Exercise in "Written Reproduction 

Tell the children the following story : 

One night some Indian children saw a star fall into a pond. 
The next morning they found a new flower growing there. It 
was sweet and white. It had a golden heart like a star. This 
was our first water lily. 

Let the exercise proceed somewhat as follows : 

Teacher : What would be a good title for this story? 
The children are allowed to decide on one of several good 
titles that will undoubtedly be given by them, such as The Star, 
The Water Lily, or The First Water Lily ; perhaps they decide on 
The Star. 

- Teacher : I will write the title on the board if you will tell me 
just how to do it. (Pupils must be required to be definite and 
exact.) 



CLASS EXERCISE IN WRITTEN REPRODUCTION 81 

First Pupil : The, capital T-h-e ; The begins with a capital be- 
cause it is the first word in a title. (Teacher writes.) 

Second Pupil : Star, capital S-t-a-r ; Star begins with a capital 
because it is an important word in a title. 

Teacher : Give me the first sentence of the story, telling what 
the Indian children saw one night. 

(The teacher should insist on a good, clear sentence ; it may 
well not be the same as the one used by the teacher in telling the 
story.) 

Third Pupil : One night some Indian children saw a star fall. 

(Of course this is only a sentence that may be given. After any 
satisfactory sentence for the beginning of the story has been given, 
have that sentence repeated by the class in concert. Then let 
the children stand, a row at a time, and each child in the row 
give, in his turn, directions for writing the word of the sentence 
that falls to him. The teacher writes as directed. No time should 
be wasted in calling pupils by name, or even in calling " next.") 

First Pupil : One, capital O-n-e ; One begins with a capital be- 
cause it is the first word in a sentence. 

Second Pupil : Night, n-i-g-h-t. 

Third Pupil : Some, s-o-m-e. 

Teacher : Indian, capital I-n-d-i-a-n ; Indian begins with a 
capital because it is the name of a people. (This is all that it is 
necessary to tell the children now ; later they will learn about the 
use of capitals to begin proper names.) 

In this manner the work continues until all the words of the 
sentence have been spelled by the pupils and written by the 
teacher. Finally, some pupil concludes the dictation with this 
statement : " There must be a period at the end of this sentence 
because it is a statement." The exercise is continued with other 
sentences similarly dictated and spelled by the children and 
written by the teacher, somewhat as follows : 

Teacher : Give the second sentence, telling where the star fell. 

A Pupil : It fell into a pond. 

(Teacher writes as children spell the words.) 



82 TEACHER'S MANUAL 

Teacher : Give the next sentence, telling what the Indian chil- 
dren found the next morning. 

A Pupil : The next morning the children found a new flower. 

(Children spell ; teacher writes.) 

Teacher : Give the next sentence, telling what kind of flower it 
was. 

A Pupil : It was sweet and white, and it had a star in its heart. 

(Children spell ; teacher writes.) 

Teacher : Give the last sentence, telling what this new flower 
was. 

A Pupil : This flower was our first water lily. 

(Pupils spell; teacher writes.) 

When finished, the story on the board may be 
something like this : 

The Star 

One night some Indian children saw a star fall. It fell into a 
pond. The next morning the children found a new flower. It 
was sweet and white, and it had a star in its heart. This flower 
was our first water lily. 

Of course no reproduction will work out exactly 
like the above. The teacher should make no effort 
to have it so. This exercise is given merely to 
show concretely and in detail the essential features 
of any exercise of this kind which is to be effective. 
Some of these essential features may be summarized 
as follows : 

First, clear, definite, and complete thoughts must 
be aroused in the children. Each thought must be 
expressed in a sentence. Thoughts and sentences 
must be arranged in logical order. The word 



CLASS EXERCISE IN WRITTEN REPRODUCTION S3 

" sentence " is to be used by teacher and pupils 
whenever speaking of a sentence. 

Second, the exercise must engage the attention 
and activity of the whole class. A few of the bright- 
est children must not be allowed to do all, or even 
most of the work. It is all within the capacity of 
every child in the class; the slow and the dull must 
be made to do their full share. If this is not done, 
they will become still slower and duller ; they are not 
yet too dull to observe that others are depended upon 
for all the work — if such be the case — and they re- 
spond as any one would do under similar conditions, 
with inattention and lethargy. The exercise, espe- 
cially the spelling and writing, should be conducted 
rapidly, with energy and snap. Every child should be 
taught to be ready and to respond promptly when his 
turn comes, without waiting even to be called upon. 

Third, every word should be spelled in the first 
exercises of this kind. Later, the spelling of only 
the more difficult words need be called for. It is to 
be remembered that most mistakes made in written 
spelling occur in the common, much-used words. 

Fourth, every exercise of this kind is to be made to 
afford the best kind of drill in the correct use of cap- 
itals and marks of punctuation, as these are taught. 

Finally, and in a word, the exercise is training the 
children to think clearly and connectedly, to express 
their thoughts clearly and definitely, and to put that 
expression into mechanically correct form. 



84 TEACHER'S MANUAL 

Supplementary Work 

Have reproduced in the same way the story, The 
Trees and the Woodcutter. (Pupil's book, p. 58.) 

XV (67). Copying Story from the Board 

Let the children copy the story, The Star, from 
the blackboard. Before they begin, direct their 
thoughts to certain things which the copying is de- 
signed to make habitual. This may best be done by 
asking such questions as these : 

With what kind of letter does the first word of a title begin? 
How do the important words in a title begin? 
How does the first word of every sentence begin? 
With what does every statement end? 

Have pupils correct any mistakes at once, as 
directed in previous lessons. Do not fail to get a 
clear statement of the reason for every correction 
before the pupil makes it. 

XVI (67). Studying a Poem 

Read the poem, Autumn Fires, to the children ; 
read it so that they will see the pictures that each 
stanza paints; read it so that they will feel the 
atmosphere and the spirit of it. Have the children 
read it, individually and in concert. 

Study with the children the questions following 
the poem. Ask other questions; encourage the 
children to ask questions and to make comments, 



WRITING A STANZA FROM MEMORY 85 

remembering that only relevant questions and com- 
ments are allowable. 

After the children have studied the last stanza 
for a minute or two, as directed, let as many as can 
say it, recite it aloud, the others listening. This 
repetition will help to fix it in the minds of the 
slower children who have perhaps not learned it 
alone. After several have repeated it, the whole 
class may say it together. 

XVII (69). Writing a Stanza from Memory 

This is a lesson for the teacher to study with the 
children. Try to insure a reasonable degree of 
success in writing the stanza from memory. This 
may be done by seeing that the children try to re- 
call the stanza as they are directed to do in their 
book; that they look back to it, and study it care- 
fully, if this seems necessary. It will do none of 
them harm and it may aid many to have the stanza 
repeated once or twice in concert, before any try to 
write it from memory. Ask about the beginning of 
each line and the mark at the end. In all of this, 
remember that the best time to correct mistakes is 
before they occur. 

See that the pupils correct any mistakes by com- 
paring their copy with the original. 

Look over their statements to see that they are 
correctly written and punctuated. Have any errors 
corrected, as directed in previous lessons. 



CHAPTER FOUR 

The careful preliminary study and comparison of 
the work provided in this chapter with that already 
given in preceding chapters — a study which should 
invariably be made before entering on the work of 
any chapter with the children — should impress you, 
among other things, with the following : 

1. The different kinds of exercises, once introduced, are 
kept up from chapter to chapter. Instead of becoming 
monotonous they become more interesting as children gain 
in power — in originality and independence. As examples, 
note the varied stories, fables, and myths, all intensely in- 
teresting, that furnish material for conversation, study, 
dramatizing, and reproduction; the use of riddles (Chapter 
Two) in the study of questions, statements, and their marks 
of punctuation; and the game of names (Chapter Four) in 
teaching the writing of proper names. 

2. Increasing originality and independence is expected 
of the children in all the exercises — reading, study, dram- 
atizing, reproducing. 

3. The distinctly new work consists of the following 
only: 

(a) The use of capitals in the writing of proper names. 

(b) The use of their and there; of to, too, and two, 

86 



STUDY AND ORAL REPRODUCTION 87 

I (71). Study and Oral Reproduction of the Fable, 
"The Pour Oxen" 

This is a lesson for the pupils to study carefully 
in preparation for the oral reproduction. In their 
book, they are told, in considerable detail, how to 
study the lesson. It is of the utmost importance 
that they study it systematically and carefully, as 
directed. Probably many of them will need some 
help, — a hint, a word of encouragement, a bit of 
stimulus. This help should be individual; it should 
be just sufficient — not too much — to enable the 
pupil to do for himself. 

Just because this lesson culminates in the oral 
reproduction of the story, do not fall into the griev- 
ous and common error of accepting — even of encour- 
aging — the memorizing of the words by repeated 
reading, by concentrating attention on these. It 
is quite possible for a child, with two or three min- 
utes' study, to reproduce this story glibly, without 
having really read it, without having constructed the 
picture in his mind at all. It is even possible for 
the same child to answer the questions asked in his 
book, and other similar questions. He does this 
merely from word memory. This possibility will 
become actuality in many cases, and that, too, with 
the most capable children, if the teacher permits it. 

Does a child hesitate and grope for a word ? Do 
you help him by giving him a word, the next word? 



88 TEACHER'S MANUAL . 

Does he, for instance, recite the first two sentences 
of the story of the four oxen and the lion in the 
words of the book ? Does he start the third sen- 
tence, "But whenever "and stop; do you, or 

does some pupil, help him out by saying, " the 
oxen"? Words, words, words! Such an exercise 
is worse than a waste of time and opportunity; it is 
positively pernicious. It is training the child's 
mind to carry on its processes with forms that lack 
substance, with husks that cover no kernels; it is 
starving instead of feeding the mind; its end is men- 
tal vacuity, at best, or at worst, the ability to talk 
without saying anything. 

In a word, there is little or no value for the child — 
there may be positive harm — in memorizing and 
reproducing the words of this story. There is much 
value in studying the story as the child's book 
directs. By such study, the child is learning really to 
read, to form in his mind the thoughts, the pictures, 
which the words describe ; to hold those pictures in 
mind, to examine, to analyze them freely ; and, finally, 
to describe the pictures in his own fitting words. 

When it comes to the recitation, this must be 
conducted in harmony with the study that has pre- 
ceded. Encourage pupils to use their own language ; 
commend originality of expression. Insist, only, 
that the essential facts of the story be observed. 
Encourage free and full expression, but put no 
premium on verbosity. Do not commend a child 
for much speaking, but for speaking effectively. 



THEIR AND THERE 89 

Study again the suggestions and directions given 
in previous chapters for conducting exercises in oral 
reproduction (pp. 16, 42, 63). In the criticism, be 
especially careful that every child knows just where- 
in his work was eood and wherein it should be 
improved. In every effort at improvement, whether 
of his own previous performance, or of the per- 
formance of another, make sure that the child has a 
clear conception of what he is trying to do. 

Supplementary Work 

Let the children study in a similar manner and 
reproduce any short, suitable story. Some of the 
stories already given in their book may be used, as 
The Blind Men and the Elephant (p. 18), or The 
Trees and the Woodcutter (p. 58). 

II (73). Th eir and Th ere 

Study this lesson with the children. Just before 
they copy the sentences, rilling the blanks, give them 
several sentences, orally, containing their and there, 
and have them tell which word is used, spelling the 
word and giving the reason for its use. For illus- 
tration : 

Teacher : The naughty kittens have lost their mittens. 

Pupil : Their, t-h-e-i-r (spelling) ; because in that sentence 
their means belonging to the kittens. 

Teacher : Look up., little kittens, there are your mittens. 

Pupil : There, t-h-e-r-e ; because in that sentence there means 
in that place. 



go TEACHER'S MANUAL 

Have pupils correct their written sentences as a 
part of the exercise. Let them give the reason for 
every correction before making it, as already directed 
(p. 49). For example, if a child has used their in 
the second sentence, he will say, when he discovers 
his mistake, " I should use there in this sentence, 
because it means in that place" and make the cor- 
rection. 

Supplementary "Work 

i. Additional sentences, with blanks to be filled 
with there or their, may be written on the board. 

2. Pupils may make original sentences, using 
there or their 'in each. Teacher may assign subjects 
about which to make these sentences, as, boys and 
marbles, girls and hoops. 

This work must be carefully done and rapidly 
corrected. Neglect of the correction makes pupils 
careless of errors, and their repetition fixes the habit. 
If you have not time to see that these exercises are 
done correctly, do not give them. They cannot be 
safely used to " keep pupils busy " ; it were far better 
to let the pupils go out to play. These exercises 
should never be required of pupils who already have 
the habit of using these two words correctly; no 
improvement is possible, so such exercises are a 
waste of pupils' time at best. At worst, they invite 
careless work, and foster the formation of bad hab- 
its ; they make too little demand on the pupil to 
hold him up to his best. 



WRITING THE STORY 91 

III (75). Writing the Story, "The Four Oxen" 

See that each child understands how to study the 
story preparatory to writing it. See that each one 
does study it as directed. Give individual help 
when needed. 

Do not try to keep the children together in this 
study. It is an individual matter. Some will know 
how to spell all words with little or no study, others 
will have to study many words ; some will be pre- 
pared to write much sooner than others. All should 
be provided with paper and pencil at the beginning 
of the exercise ; each one should be allowed to write 
as soon as he thinks he is ready. 

In this preparation, and in the writing of this 
story, the children will need your full attention. 
Watch especially the work of the poorer pupils. 
Anticipate their tendency to disregard the division 
of the story into sentence's, by having them write 
complete answers to a series of questions suitable to 
bring out connected statements, as : 

Where did the four oxen feed? (Four oxen fed together in a 
field.) 

What did a lion try to do? (A lion tried to kill one of the 
oxen.) 

What did the oxen do ? (The oxen stood together and shook 
their horns at the lion.) 

Do not hamper with such questions the work of 
any child who is able to write good sentences with- 



Q2 



TEACHER'S MANUAL 



out them. They are but crutches, to be leaned 
upon only as a last resort. 

Each child's paper is to be criticized for the fol- 
lowing : 

i. The completeness and clearness of the story. 

2. The use of capitals and period. 

3. The spelling. 

4. The appearance of the paper, — arrangement, neatness, 
penmanship. 

Criticizing — let it always be remembered — means 
commending, when that is possible, quite as much 
as it means censuring, or pointing out faults. 

While the points for criticism, as given above, 
may, at first thought, seem rather numerous and 
formidable, a moment's reflection will show you that 
they are merely the result of the briefest analysis of 
the essentials in which the goodness or the poorness 
of the child's work consists. It may seem simpler 
to say to the child, " Good," or, " Poor ; try to do 
better next time." But such criticism is simple 
only for the teacher ; for the child, it is merely the 
source of unintelligent pleasure or discouragement. 
It is not enlightening ; it does not point the way to 
definite and sure improvement. 

A paper may be neat in appearance, correct in 
spelling, and in the use of capitals and period, but 
lacking in completeness or clearness of statement. 
This the writer, or any other child, may be made to 
see by questioning, or by comparing the paper with 



WRITING THE STORY 93 

another that is complete and clear. So may the 
quality of any paper, in the other respects, be brought 
out clearly to every child, by questioning and by 
comparison. Of course, the comparison of papers 
must be made tactfully. 

It is true that such definite, detailed criticism 
means much painstaking work for the teacher. It 
is easier to gather up the results of the pupils' efforts, 
glance them over, make a few general comments on 
the papers as a whole, and drop them all quietly 
into the wastebasket ; and this process may be 
repeated, day after day, with little exertion or thought 
on the teacher's part. But this is not teaching 
children to think or to write ; it is not teaching 
them to take any intelligent satisfaction or interest 
in their work. 

Progress in language maybe just as sure and almost 
as definitely noticeable as progress in learning the 
multiplication table. But such progress depends 
upon the intelligent doing of definite things every 
day, in every exercise ; upon the intelligent and 
definite criticism of the pupils' definite efforts ; and 
upon definite, intelligent attempts to do definite 
things better at each trial. The pupil must be held 
up to his best all the time ; he must be made to apply 
everything that he has learned, and to apply it not 
merely in the lesson in which he has learned it, but 
whenever there is occasion. Thus does the child 
become helpfully critical of his own work. He 



94 TEACHER'S MANUAL 

takes intelligent delight in the realization of his 
growing powers. 

Each pupil should correct his own work, if possible 
at once. (See directions, p. 49.) 

Supplementary Work 

In most classes it will be advisable soon to have 
another short story reproduced in writing. For 
this reproduction the following story may be used. 
Let this be written upon the board, studied by the 
children under the teacher's direction, and finally 
written and criticized as has just been directed. 

The First Fountain 

Flora was a little girl who liked to play in the water. One day 
she was wading in a little stream. She played until she grew 
tired. Then she tried to step out on the bank. But her feet 
were held fast. Her hair became little streams of water. A fairy 
had turned her into a fountain. 

IV (76). The Use of Capitals in Writing the Names 

of Persons 

The one new point in this lesson is the writing of 
personal names with capitals ; the rest is a review of 
the use of capitals in titles and at the beginning 
of sentences, and the use of the period at the end 
of statements. See that the pupils study the lesson 
through carefully as directed ; test them upon this 
in oral recitation. 

Then tell them about the game of names de- 



THE GAME OF NAMES 95 

scribed and to be played in the next lesson. As a 
preparation for this, have every child write his name 
on the blackboard ; let only full names be written, 
not initials. Have the names spelled from the 
board by the children, each child spelling the name 
of some other child. Call attention to the capital 
beginning every name, and insist that the child 
spelling say " capital " before naming the first letter 
of a name. 

Leave the children's names on the board until 
the next lesson, or better, rewrite them yourself in 
columns as they are spelled from the board by the 
children. Let the pupils understand that those 
who learn how to spell the largest number of names 
correctly before the next lesson, and who are careful 
about the capitals, will be most successful in the 
game. 

V (77). The Game of Names 

The game of names is played as follows : 

Harry Brown : Mary Smith, spell my name. 

Mary Smith : Harry Brown, capital-H-a-r-r-y, capital-B-r-o-w-n. 
John Pope, spell my name. 

John Pope: Mary Smith, capital-M-a-r-y, s-m-i-t-h. 

Mary Smith : No, that is not the way to spell my name. 
Frank Ball, spell my name. 

Frank Ball: Mary Smith, capital-M-a-r-y, capital-S-m-i-t-h. 
Charles Marsh, spell my name. 

And so the game continues as long as desirable. 
The one who makes a mistake loses his chance to 



9 6 TEACHER'S MANUAL 

call upon another. If the one whose name is mis- 
spelled does not notice the mistake at once, and 
calls upon some one else to spell his name, any other 
child may note the mistake, by saying, " No, that is 

not the way to spell 's name," and spell 

the name correctly. Then the child making the 
correction may call on another to spell his name. 

VI (77). Writing Names 

Have pupils correct mistakes as part of the exer- 
cise, giving reason for correction. 

The second part of the exercise, writing the 
names of as many classmates as possible, may be 
turned into a game. Allow a certain number of 
minutes for this, say ten. The one that writes the 
largest number of names correctly wins ; incorrectly 
written names are not counted. 

Supplementary "Work 

1. Pupils may write names from dictation. 

2. They may write a certain number of names, 
either of people they know, or names that they 
may invent. 

VII (77). Copying 

For directions and suggestions regarding the super- 
vision of an exercise in copying and the correction 
of errors, see p. 48, VII. The teacher must work 
with the children throughout this exercise. 



THE USE OF TWO, TOO, AND TO 97 

VIII (78). Dictation 
Give pupils not more than two minutes to look 
carefully at and to read to themselves the story, 
Kindness (p. 76), in preparation for writing it from 
dictation. That they may have prominently in mind 
the principal things on account of which the dicta- 
tion is given, ask the following questions: 

Where are capital letters used in titles? 
With what kind of letter must every sentence begin? 
With what mark must every statement end? 
With what kind of letter must every name of a person begin? 
How are these words spelled (giving those that you think may 
cause trouble) ? 

Dictate complete sentences. Dictate slowly and 
distinctly. Secure perfect attention and expect 
pupils to get the sentence from a single dictation. 
Have pupils repeat the sentence distinctly, in con- 
cert, before beginning to write. Have errors cor- 
rected as part of the exercise. For further direc- 
tions and suggestions about dictation exercises and 
the correction of errors, see pp. 48-50. 

IX (78). The Use of Two, Too, and To 

Study this lesson with the children. It is easy 
for them to learn when to use two, the word mean- 
ing a number. 

The use of too is not so easy to express. Chil- 
dren will learn it better from example than from 



gS TEACHER'S MANUAL 

rule. Have them study carefully the sentences 
given in their book in which too is used. Make 
for them other similar sentences, orally, and have 
them give the spelling of too. 

The use of to is still more difficult to explain, 
and no explanation should be attempted. The 
best practical rule for the correct use of these 
troublesome little words that can be impressed 
upon the children is that they should use to only 
when two or too will not do. Two is almost never, 
too, seldom, mistakenly used; the tendency is to use 
to indiscriminately. Insist that the children never 
use to until they are sure that it is not two, nor too, 
that they need. 

Before the children copy the sentences, filling 
the blanks, dictate to them many sentences in 
which to, too, and two are used. Have the pupils 
decide which word is used and spell it orally. 
Teach them to think of the sentences given in 
their books as types with which they can compare 
other sentences when in doubt. For instance, 
perhaps you have given the sentence, " You have 
torn your book ; it is too bad." A child may spell 
the word too, t-o. Let him recall the sentences in 
his book : " The chair is too high ; " "I go to school 
to learn." Which too is used in too bad? Is it 
like too high, or like to school or to learn ? 

Have errors in copying the sentences and filling 
the blanks corrected as part of the exercise. As 



DICTATION 99 

reasons for the correction may be given in the case 
of two that it means the number two; in the case of 
too, that it is like too big, and too high, or like you, 
too\ and in the possible case of to that it is neither 
too nor two. 

Supplementary Work 

i. Write on the board several connected sen- 
tences with blanks for the words to, too, and two. 
Let pupils copy and fill blanks. Do not give puz- 
zling sentences. 

2. Give pupils a subject, as The Cat and Her 
Kittens, and let pupils write three or more con- 
nected sentences on that subject, using the words 
to, too, and two. 

Observe strictly what has been said about sup- 
plementary work (p. 70). 

X (80). Dictation to Drill and Test the Use of Two, 
Too, To, Their, and There 

In preparation for the dictation of the sentences 
below, which are to be written, give several sentences 
using the words to, too, two, there, and their, and 
have pupils spell orally the word that is used. 

Two little kittens were lost. 

Their mother had told them to stay at home. 

They were too little to go out alone. 

Their mother found them over there in the woods. 

As part of the exercise, have pupils correct their 
papers, telling why the correct form is to be used. 



ioo TEACHER'S MANUAL 

Supplementary Work 

i. Write the words tzvo, to, too, there, their, on 
the board in a column, in any order. Go around 
the class rapidly, in order, calling on each child to 
ofive a sentence in which one of the above words is 
used. When he gives his sentence, he must spell 
the word he has used, and tell why that word is 
used. For example : 

Child: I saw two robins in a tree. Two, t-w-o ; because this 
word means the number two. 

2. The above exercise may be turned into an 
interesting game by dividing the class into two 
groups, as in a spelling match. Let the sentences 
be given in order by the children, alternating from 
side to side. If a child is unable to give a sentence 
when his turn comes, or if he makes a mistake in 
the spelling of a word, or in the reason for its use, 
the child whose turn it is on the opposing side may 
give a sentence, or make the correction. If he is 
successful, the leader of his side draws one child 
from the losing side. 

3. One child may give a sentence using one of 
the words, two, to, too, their, or there. Another child 
may spell the word used, and give the reason for his 
spelling. This exercise may be varied in several 
ways. It may go around the class in regular order. 
Or the child giving a sentence may call upon any 
other child to spell the word and give the reason for 



ENLARGING A STORY FOR DRAMATIZING 101 

it ; if he does this correctly, he may give a sentence 
to any other child, and so on. Whenever a child 
makes a mistake, he loses his opportunity to give a 
sentence; the one who corrects him gives a sen- 
tence. Or the class may be divided into two groups 
as in (2), introducing competition between the two 
sides. 

In all the above exercises, encourage the children 
to give connected sentences ; if they are able to do 
it, this may be a requirement. For example : 

First Child : I saw two kittens. 

Second Child : They were out there under the tree. 

Third Child : I tried to catch them. 

Fourth Child : They were too spry for me. 

Fifth Child : They ran away to their mother. 

XI (80). Enlarging a Story for Dramatizing; Pupils' 
Preparatory Study 

Start the pupils in the study of the story, The 
First Butterctips, preparatory to its dramatization. 
Read the story with them. Talk with them about the 
changes that must be made in order to prepare the 
story for dramatizing. Help them to answer some 
of the first questions, to make sure that they under- 
stand them and can answer them. Let them study 
through the whole lesson, with such individual help 
as they may require. Do not give them too much 
help ; this robs them of the opportunity of using 
their own imaginations. 



102 TEACHER'S MANUAL 

XII (82). Enlarging a Story for Dramatizing; 
Class Exercise 

Have pupils answer the questions that they studied 
for their last lesson. Keep before them the idea 
that their answers must show just what the actors, in 
playing the story, might do and say. 

In preparation for this exercise, you should pre- 
pare yourself just as carefully as you expect the 
pupils to prepare themselves. Following the ques- 
tions in their book, you should think out carefully 
the whole story, in all its details, as it might work 
out. Then you should keep this story in your 
mind — be sure to keep it in your mind, do not im- 
pose it on the children — as a guide for yourself in 
bringing out from the children a complete, clear, and 
connected narrative. 

Here is one way in which the story was worked 
out by one class, following the questions given in 
the pupils' book. The numbers in parenthesis cor- 
respond to the numbers opposite the questions in the 
pupils' book. 

A man set out to find the end of the rainbow. 

(1) He carried a spade over his shoulder. (2, 3, 4) After 
walking a long way he cried, " Here is the end of the rainbow at 
last ! I have heard that there is a pot of gold buried in the earth 
here. I will dig and dig until I get it." 

(5) After digging for some time he found the gold. He 
lifted it out, saying, " What a lot of gold ! What shall I do with 
it? I will carry it into the woods and bury it." 

(6, 7, 8) He put the gold into a bag and started for the woods, 



ENLARGING A STORY FOR DRAMATIZING 103 

saying to himself, " How rich I am ! I will keep every bit of this 
gold for myself. Nobody shall have one piece of it." 

(g) Little did the selfish man know that there was a hole in 
his bag ! As he hurried across the fields on the way to the woods, 
bit by bit the gold dropped out until he had no gold left. 

(10, n, 12) A little fairy was watching the man. She said, 
" What a pity such a selfish man should have all that gold. I am 
sure he will do no good with it." 

(13, 14) When she saw the gold fall, she said, "There, he has lost 
his gold and I am glad. I will change the gold into bright golden 
flowers. They will make every one who looks on them glad." 

(15) So saying, the little fairy flew from gold piece to gold 
piece touching each with her wand. At the touch of the wand, 
every gold piece turned into a golden flower. 

(16) "There," said the little fairy as she flew away, "I 
have made those dear flowers for the little children." 

(17) When the man opened his bag and found no gold, he 
cried, "Why, where is all my gold? " On looking more closely 
he saw the hole. 

(18) "Ah, now I know," he said. "It has dropped through 
this hole. I will go back and look for it." 

(19) Back to the field hurried the man. He searched and 
searched, but not a piece of his gold did he ever find. 

Just as he was leaving the field the little fairy flew to him. 

(20, 21) " See these bright flowers," she said, pointing to the 
golden flowers. "Do you know how they came to be here? 
They were your gold pieces. I saw you drop them and I changed 
them into buttercups for the children, because I wanted the gold 
to make ever so many people happy. You were selfish. You 
would give none to others." 

The man looked at the fairy for a moment, then at the golden 
buttercups. 

(22) At last he turned slowly away, saying to himself, "The 
flowers are very bright and beautiful. They will make the 
children happy. I think the fairy is right." 



104 TEACHER'S MANUAL 

After the children have answered the questions, 
connect their answers into a complete story. Tell 
them this story from beginning to end. Let this 
be the children's story, as nearly as may be, not the 
story that you worked out for yourself, and certainly 
not the story that is here given merely for illustration. 

XIII (82). Dramatizing the Story, "The First 
Buttercups " 

If the dramatizing up to this time has been car- 
ried out as directed, if the children have been allowed 
to take the initiative, they should have gained con- 
siderable confidence and skill in planning and acting 
out a simple story, like this one of the first buttercups. 
Tell them the story again, without question or com- 
ment, as it was worked out at the last lesson. Then 
let them dramatize it. Let them choose the ones to 
take part; then let the chosen ones carry it out as 
they think it should be done. Show your confidence 
in the little actors ; give only help enough to prevent 
a complete failure, if this should seem imminent. 

When the first dramatization is completed, let 
the children discuss the merits of it, suggesting 
definitely wherein it should be improved. Then 
let them choose a new set of actors to re'enact the 
story with the improvements suggested. It may be 
thus repeated as many times as seem desirable, but 
always with certain definite ideas for improvement. 
It must not become perfunctory and mechanical. 



SUPPLEMENTARY WORK 105 

Supplementary Work 

The story may be told orally by several children. 
Do not insist that it be told as you told it, or as it 
was played ; encourage variation ; commend orig- 
inality ; it is only essential that the chief events of 
the story be in substantial agreement with those of 
the original, and that it be clear, connected, and 
complete. 

XIV (82). Picture Stories 

(Puppy-dog pictures, p. 83) 

After the children have studied the lesson in 
their books, have the story told in three parts. 

Part I. Saving the Puppy's Life (upper picture). 

Part II. Playmates (between the pictures). 

This part may be told by the teacher if pupils 
have not worked it out well. Tell how the boy and 
the dog became fast friends, playing and growing 
up together. After two or three years the puppy 
was a full-grown dog, while the boy was still small. 

Part III. Saving the Boy's Life (lower pic- 
ture). 

Supplementary Work 

i. In connection with this story tell the children 
the fables, The Lion and ' the Afouse, and The 
Dove and the Ant. Have them compare the three 
stories, noting what is common to them all. Be 
sure to have the fact clearly brought out that the boy 
saved the puppy's life, the dove the ant's life, and 



106 TEACHER'S MANUAL 

the lion the mouse's life, without thought of any ser- 
vice in return. Each was prompted solely by kind- 
ness toward a helpless and suffering creature. The 
fables will serve as models of form for the children 
which they will tend to follow, even unconsciously. 
2. Tell the story of Androclus and the Lion. 

XV (86). More Picture Stories 

(Girl with kitten, p. 87) 

This, like the preceding picture, should develop 
a story that will be an excellent- lesson on kindness 
to animals. 

After the children have studied the lesson a few 
minutes by themselves, help them to develop a con- 
nected, complete story. Perhaps it will follow an 
outline something like this: 

Little girl sent to grocer's by her mother ; two little children 
stand on steps crying ; coming nearer, the girl sees a poor, fright- 
ened kitten crouching in a corner, while a big boy is about to 
throw a stone at it ; girl rushes in and rescues the kitten ; tells the 
boy only a coward would do such a thing ; boy feels ashamed and 
promises never again to be so cruel to a helpless animal ; girl 
gives kitten up to children to whom it belongs — or takes it home 
and cares for it — or the boy takes it and is kind to it. 

Supplementary Work 

i. The story may be continued like the story of 
the rescued puppy. The kitten may save the girl's 
— or the boy's — life by waking her when the 
house is on fire. 



TELLING A STORY FROM A POEM 107 

2. The boy may have a dream. He dreams he 
is a kitten and a big boy is stoning him. How 
does he feel ? When he wakes, what does he re- 
solve to do ? 

3. The story may be dramatized. 

XVI (86). Telling True Stories 

Talk with the children about different ways of 
repaying kindness, ways that they have seen or that 
they can think of. If children have had little ex- 
perience of gratitude, let them prepare for this exer- 
cise to be taken up later — after a week or two ; let 
them seek and embrace opportunities to show grat- 
itude to parents, teachers, classmates, friends. 

Obviously, the ethical value of exercises of this 
kind, made practical, is not less than their language 
value. 

XVII (88). Studying a Poem 

Study the poem, The First Bluebell, with the 
children. First, read it to them. Then have it 
read aloud by one or more of the best readers. 

Note that the questions are arranged in groups, 
each group referring to a stanza of the poem. See 
that the pupils observe this; it will help them in 
their efforts to answer the questions. 

XVIII (90). Telling a Story from a Poem 

After the pupils have had a few minutes— five 
to eight should be enough — to study the poem, 



108 TEACHER'S MANUAL 

The First Bluebell, and to think out the story in it 
in their own words, have several children tell it. 
In the discussion of each child's story, by yourself 
and the other children, be sure that the comments 
are definite, so that every one may understand both 
the good and the weak points of the stories. 



CHAPTER FIVE 

Make a preliminary study of this chapter to see 
how it carries on, enlarges, develops, all the funda- 
mental ideas of preceding chapters ; how it provides 
for drill in all forms already taken up ; how it sus- 
tains and stimulates interest and effort through 
varied exercises. The new work is as follows : 

1. Quotations and quotation marks : studying their use, 
copying, writing from dictation, writing original quotations. 

2. The use of the comma to separate a quotation from 
the rest of the sentence. 

3. Writing an original ending for an unfinished story. 

4. More definite words to be used in place of said. 

I (91). Reading 

Read with the children the story, The Little 
White Flower. After reading it through for the 
story, assign parts, and have it read in dialogue 
form. Have nothing perfunctory about this exer- 
cise ; get every child into the spirit of it. The 
thought and the vocabulary are so easy and so 
familiar that every child should be able to take any 
one of the parts and to put into it something of origi- 
nality, of individuality in conception and rendering. 

109 



no TEACHER'S MANUAL 

Read again carefully the suggestions given in 
Chapter Three (p. 65) for the reading of the story, 
Mabel and the Fairy Folk. See that the discussion, 
criticism, and rereading of the various parts are 
carried out here as there suggested. 

II (95). Studying the Story, "the Little White 

Flower " 

The children are to study this lesson by them- 
selves. This does not mean that they will need no 
attention from the teacher, or merely enough to see 
that they are quiet and apparently busy. On the 
contrary, they will need the teacher's closest atten- 
tion and keenest insight. They are learning how 
to study ; they are forming the habit of intelligent 
study; at least, such is the purpose of this exercise. 
If it is not serving this purpose, it is wasting the 
children's time, and worse than wasting it. 

To make the exercise fully successful you must 
see that the children clearly understand the direc- 
tions of their book, that they are answering to them- 
selves intelligently the questions that their book 
asks them. To do this, go about from pupil to 
pupil — especially among the poorer pupils — and 
speak with them individually; a hint, a question, or 
a suggestion, will help to reveal to you just what a 
child is doing, and to show him what he ought to 
do. 

In their book, the pupils are told that they may 



CONVERSATION AND DRAMATIZING in 

ask the teacher to help them with any question that 
troubles them. If you are not-getting at least a few 
requests for such help, there is probably something 
wrong. Find out what it is, and correct it. 

Ill (98). Conversation and Dramatizing 
Conversation. 

In this exercise the pupils are to be called upon 
to show the results of their study of the story, 
The Little White Flower. The questions in 
their book, which they answered to themselves, 
should be asked, yet this must not be made a formal 
exercise which serves merely to test their knowl- 
edge and the faithfulness of their study. Every one, 
teacher and pupils, should feel free to express his 
ideas, to ask questions, for the purpose of develop- 
ing together clear and full conceptions of the char- 
acters of the story, to bring out what each of these 
characters said and did, and just how he said it and 
did it. 

To insure this freedom, the teacher must be fully 
prepared for the exercise. She should know the 
story so thoroughly, she should know so well the 
questions that the pupils have studied in their book, 
she should be so ready with questions and sugges- 
tions of her own, that she will need no book before 
her, that she will have no time to use a book. 

Above all else, the children must be given oppor- 
tunity to show how they think the different things 



H2 TEACHER'S MANUAL 

iii the story should be done, when it is played, and 
to ask to have different things shown, as they were 
directed in the latter part of their study lesson. 
Every child should take part in this, if possible, both 
by representing something himself and by calling 
for the representation of something. The teacher 
should be fully prepared to supplement the pupils' 
efforts and requests. Here are a few things that 
should be shown, some of which the children may 
not think of. 

Show how little Tom stood while the men were telling of the 
gifts they had for the queen. 

Show how Tom walked away from the market place. 

Show how the wind fairies circled around the little plant. 

Show how the wind fairies rushed. 

Show how the rain fairies pattered. 

Show how the sunshine fairies glided. 

Show how the little bud had her face covered at first ; how 
she opened one little petal ; how she burst into full bloom ; and 
how she laughed at the sun fairies. 

Show how the men presented their gifts to the queen ; and 
how they left her. 

Dramatizing the story. 

Show your confidence in your pupils by allow- 
ing them to do all they can unaided. Let them 
decide how many will be required to take the 
parts, and let them, under your direction, assign the 
parts. 

After the story has been played once, and after 
the performance has been discussed, and definite 



QUOTATIONS 113 

suggestions made for improvement, another set of 
children sufficient to take all the parts may be al- 
lowed to leave the room, assign the parts among 
themselves, return, and give the play before the 
teacher and the remainder of the class. 

Read again suggestions for an exercise in conver- 
sation and dramatizing (pp. 11, 38, 67). 

IV (99). Oral Reproduction 

In the oral reproduction of the story, The Little 
White Flower, follow the directions given for oral 
reproduction of a story in Chapter Two (p. 42). 

V (99). Quotations 

This is the first lesson on quotations. This sub- 
ject is not taken up thus early — earlier than most 
teachers or textbooks present it — for the sake of 
extending the endless exercises that are wont to be 
given to it throughout the elementary school grades, 
and too often without satisfactory results, but rather 
that the children may learn the use of quotations, 
and fix the habit of writing quotations correctly, 
before they have blundered carelessly into the habit 
of writing them incorrectly. Presented simply and 
clearly, the subject is not difficult for third grade 
children to understand. And if these children are 
held rigidly from the first to writing quotations 
always correctly, as they learn how to write them, 



H4 TEACHER'S MANUAL 

they will soon fix the habit. Then it will be quite 
unnecessary to waste time in teaching over and 
over again, year after year, the proper use of quota- 
tion marks. 

In their original work, pupils use direct quotations. 
They must be taught now how to write them cor- 
rectly ; it is easier to teach correct form at the out- 
set and to insist upon its use than to correct errors 
later. 

In studying this lesson in their book with them, 
make perfectly sure that the pupils understand from 
the beginning just what the quotation is, not by 
memorizing the definition, but by distinguishing in 
every instance exactly what the concrete quotation 
under discussion is, and who says the words of which 
it is composed. To secure this perfect understand- 
ing, supplement, if necessary, the questions in the 
pupils' book with questions that will bring the most 
detailed and definite answers possible. Your ques- 
tions, at first, must be as definite, as this : 

Is any one speaking? (Insist on the answer " yes " or "no.") 
Who is speaking? 
What does he say? 
Put your fingers around what he says. 
What do we call those words? 
What marks are around them? 
Point to those marks and tell their name. 

What mark is used to separate the quotation from the rest of 
the sentence? 

Put your finger on the comma. 



QUOTATIONS 115 

Find the comma in the next sentence. 

What does the comma do? (Separates the quotation from the 
rest of the sentence.) 

Read the quotation. (This may be by class or by individuals. 
Have quotations read in different sentences until pupils respond 
promptly, read the quotation, the whole quotation, and not one 
word more.) 

Read the rest of the sentence. (Give this command after the 
pupil, or pupils, have paused long enough at the end of the quota- 
tion to make it evident that they know that they have finished it.) 

Have pupils go to the board and make quotation 
marks and commas. 

In all this study with the pupils, work fast. 
Questions and answers must be clear, rapid, spirited, 
definite, to the point. Children must not be given 
time to dawdle. They need to think, but no long 
train of thought is needed to answer any question 
that should be asked. If kept awake and attentive 
by a sufficiently rapid fire of questions, they can 
answer every question almost instantly, if they can 
answer it at all. Five minutes' spirited, concen- 
trated work will accomplish more than a half hour 
of dawdling. 

Let one child be the cat and another the owl. 
Let these children read the quotations in the story, 
nothing more, each one reading his part. 

The form for studying a direct quotation given in 
the pupils' book (p. 100) should be followed exactly, 
in this and in future lessons. Experience has proved 
this to be the most effective way of teaching children 



u6 TEACHER'S MANUAL 

to write quotations correctly, far more effective than 
any definition and rule; at the same time the study 
of sentences by this form insures a clear analysis 
and sure grasp of the thought. 

Supplementary Work 

Short stories, full of conversation, may be written 
on the blackboard and studied in the same way that 
we have taken up The Cat and the Owl. The 
quotations must be brief, unbroken, and come at the 
beginning of the sentences in which they occur. 

VI (103). Copying to Learn the Writing of Quotations 

Have children copy the story, The Cat and the 
Owl. See that they first read carefully and fully 
understand the directions that are given them in 
their book. Then see that they work according 
to these directions. Pass from desk to desk, and 
with a word or a question keep every one up to 
the best work of which he is capable. Thus help 
the children to avoid most of the errors that they 
might otherwise make, and have them correct at 
once those that do occur. As the attention of a 
child is called to an error, it is not enough that he 
tell what he should have written, and make the cor- 
rection ; you must invariably insist that he tell why 
the correction should be made. For instance, you 
may find the quotation marks omitted at the end of 



DICTATION TO TEACH WRITING OF QUOTATIONS 117 

the quotation in the second sentence. When the 
child is led to discover this omission, he must speak 
in substance as follows ; the exact words are not 
essential : " There should be quotation marks around 
Good evening, for those are the exact words spoken 
by the cat. I have made these marks only at the 
beginning of those words; I must make them at the 
end, too." Then the child puts in the missing 
marks. 

It is unnecessary and unwise to run the risk of 
confusing the child by telling him that when a 
quotation is put in italics, which was not in italics 
in the original, the quotation marks may be omitted. 
Though there are numerous instances of this in the 
pupils' book, — for examples, see pages 199, 271, and 
272, — the pupil in his writing will have no occasion 
to depart from the general rule that quotations must 
be indicated by quotation marks. 

The directions and suggestions already given 
(p. 48) for a copying lesson are equally applicable 
here. 



VII (104). Dictation to Teach the Writing of 
Quotations 

Before dictating the story, The Cat and the Owl, 
have children open their books to the story ; ques- 
tion them rapidly for two or three minutes about the 
placing of the quotation marks and the comma. It 



n8 TEACHER'S MANUAL 

will be well to ask questions also about the use of 
capitals in the title and at the beginning of sentences, 
and the use of the period at the end of the state- 
ments. Everything that the children have learned 
to do, they must consciously remember to do every 
time there is occasion, — until the doing of it be- 
comes a habit, automatic. 

Following this preliminary questioning, the dicta- 
tion may be given in one of two ways. By the first 
way, the story may be dictated from beginning to end, 
starting with the title, just as previous dictations 
have been given ; the teacher reads a full sentence, 
pupils repeat it distinctly after her, then write it. 

A second way, which is far the better way with 
most classes, is as follows. After dictating, as usual, 
the title and the first sentence, in which there is no 
quotation, the teacher reads the second sentence, the 
pupils repeat it, but before writing it there is inter- 
jected a series of questions and answers like these: 

Teacher : Is any one speaking ? 
Pupils : Yes, the cat is speaking. 
Teacher : What does the cat say ? 
Pupils : Good evening. 
Teacher : What are those words called ? 
Pupils : A quotation. 

Teacher : What must you put around those words ? 
Pupils : Quotation marks. 

Teacher : How will you separate the quotation from the rest of 
the sentence ? 

Pupil f: With a comma. 



DICTATION TO TEACH WRITING OF QUOTATIONS 119 

Teacher : "Good evening," said the cat. 
Pupils : "Good evening," said the cat. 
Teacher : Write. 

The same process of dictation and questioning is 
pursued with each of the following sentences. The 
purpose of this slow and painstaking work — if 
questions and answers are sharp and rapid it will 
not be monotonous — is to secure from every pupil 
a consciously correct performance, to make certain 
that these first exercises shall trace in every pupil's 
mind and muscle the paths of right habits. This is 
mainly a teaching and learning, not a testing exer- 
cise. Testing has its appropriate place after, not 
before, something has been taught and learned. 

Obviously, a compromise between these two plans 
of dictation may be readily made ; the questioning 
on the quotation may be taken up in connection 
with only a part of the sentences, never omitting it 
with the first one containing a quotation. Probably 
in classes composed mainly of bright, quick chil- 
dren, such a compromise will be found desirable. 

When all, or a considerable number, of the quota- 
tion sentences are subjected to this close question- 
ing, it will be impossible to complete the exercise in 
a fifteen or twenty minute period. Only so much 
should be dictated as can be written and corrected 
within the time allotted for the exercise. Preserve 
the papers, pass them out and finish the exercise at 
the next lesson. 



120 TEACHER'S MANUAL 

The correction of the pupil's efforts, and the 
method of securing it, are not less important than 
the dictation and the method of conducting it. In 
the dictation, the aim was to secure a correct per- 
formance, to avoid errors ; in the correction of such 
errors as have been made — the more painstaking 
the dictation, the fewer these will be — the aim 
must be to secure their correction in a way that will 
prevent the repetition of the errors. Thus their 
errors are used to teach pupils correct habits. So 
important is this matter, we give in some detail a 
method of treating errors effectively. 

Suppose a pupil has omitted quotation marks ; 
ask, and have him answer correctly, questions like 
these: Is any one speaking? Who? What does 
he say ? I cannot tell that any one is speaking by 
looking at your paper. How should you have 
shown that some one is speaking ? When the pupil 
answers that he should have used quotation marks, 
ask, " Where should you have placed them ? " Do 
not accept the answer, " In front of good and after 
evening." Insist on the answer, " Around good 
evening." Then ask, " Why ? " and require the 
answer, " Because those are the exact words of the 
owl (or cat). " 

If a comma has been omitted, ask, and have 
answered, these questions : What is the quotation ? 
What is the rest of the sentence ? How should the 
quotation be separated from the rest of the sen- 



DICTATION TO TEACH WRITING OF QUOTATIONS 121 

tence ? The answer to the last question, "By a 
comma," is perfectly correct in this place. Do not 
be troubled — and do not trouble your pupils — 
with the fact that there are other ways of setting off 
quotations ; these will be taken up and taught in due 
time. 

If a pupil has misplaced quotation marks or 
comma, so that they inclose or separate a part of 
the quotation or more than the quotation, go back 
to the first questions, and ask : Is any one speak- 
ing ? What does he say ? Is that all he says 
(in case only part of the quotation has been inclosed) ? 
Does he say all that (in case more than the quo- 
tation has been inclosed or separated from the rest 
of the sentence) ? Just what should be inclosed in 
quotation marks? (Answer: "The exact words 
of the person speaking; every one of those words; 
and not another word.") Of course, should a pupil's 
answers to the first two questions above be correct, 
he will have only to make his paper agree with his 
answers, after giving reasons for the corrections to 
be made. 

The repetition, over and over again as occasion 
requires, of all these little definite and direct ques- 
tions, the repetition of definite and direct answers 
to them, is not vain; it is fundamental to sure suc- 
cess. The value of this questioning process, which 
is entirely within the range of the child's thought, is 
not limited to the development of correct habits of 



122 TEACHER'S MANUAL 

mere form in writing; it is affording the child the 
best possible training in the analysis of thought and 
expression. The effects of this will surely tell later 
in his own original writing, even in grammatical 
analysis. 

Do not be troubled lest all the time required for 
this painstaking work deprive your pupils of suffi- 
cient "practice." Better one page written and cor- 
rected intelligently by the child than whole reams of 
muddled scribblings. Constant "practice" of what 
is only half understood, and practice carried out 
only half as well as the pupil knows how to do, and 
"practice," ever more "practice," subjected to no 
rigid standards which the pupil must himself apply, 
is the fully adequate explanation of the recurrence 
year after year, through the grammar and even the 
high school, of the same primitive errors. 

VIII (104). Finishing a Story Orally 

Read with the children the beginning of the story, 
The Helpers. See that they understand what is 
meant by the blanks at the end. Give them a few 
minutes to think over the answers that they will 
give to the questions that follow the story. Then 
work out with them the completion of the story, 
following the general course of the questions in their 
book, with which you should be perfectly familiar. 

As called upon, or as they volunteer, let pupils 



FINISHING A STORY ORALLY 



123 



tell aloud in complete, clear-cut sentences, what the 
robin, the oak tree, and the rose said. For example, 
" I fill the woods with music," said the robin. 
Demand good sense in every sentence ; the robin, 
the oak tree, and the rose should be made to say 
only such things as each one really does. 

Have some of the children's original sentences 
written on the board. Write some of these yourself, 
calling upon the children to spell the words and to 
tell you what marks of punctuation to use and where 
to place these. Then have some of the children 
write their sentences, while others criticize and dic- 
tate necessary corrections. 

After the children have answered orally all the 
questions in their book, — with occasionally an 
answer written on the board — and have thus fur- 
nished material for the completion of the story, read 
to them the story from the beginning and complete 
it from the material which they have furnished. 
You will choose, of course, from the best sentences 
that have been given. The continuation and ending 
of the story might be something like this: 

" I fill the forest with music," said the robin. 

" I let the birds build their nests in my strong branches," said 
the oak tree. 

" I fill the forest with sweetness," said the rose. 

These answers pleased the angel of all wild things. 

"You are all helpers," she said. 

"I see that every one is trying to make his woodland home better 
and happier." 



124 TEACHER'S MANUAL 

Now let the children tell the story, reading the 
first part from their books, completing the sentences 
containing blanks, and ending the story as they 
please. Discourage efforts to remember the sen- 
tences and words that you gave; encourage origin- 
ality. Have the story retold only as the retelling 
brings out different ideas; there is no value in hav- 
ing it repeated in just the same way until every one 
can say it fluently. 

Supplementary Work 

Have pupils copy the title and the first four 
sentences of the story, The Helpers (p. 104). These 
papers may be preserved and used in the next lesson, 
which calls for the completion of the story in writing. 

IX (105). Finishing a Story in Writing 

Before the children begin to write the ending of 
the story, The Helpers, as they are directed to do in 
their book, see that they read carefully the Three 
Things to Remember. It will probably be well also 
for you to ask them a few reminding questions about 
capitals and the period. It is hardly possible at this 
stage to take too many precautions for the avoidance 
of errors. 

As they write, be constantly on the alert to keep 
them tactfully from error; merely your interested, 
undistracted attention will prevent many careless 
mistakes, a fitting word or question will prevent still 



WORDS THAT CAN BE USED IN PLACE OF SAID 125 

more. Pay especial attention to the children's ef- 
forts to write the very end of the story, telling what 
the angel thought and what she said. Many of 
them may need considerable help at this point. Help 
them so that they may help themselves. 

Have pupils correct their work. The correction is 
quite as important as the writing, and the manner of 
correction is as important as the correction itself. 
(See p. 49.) 

Supplementary Work 
Let the children dramatize the story, The Helpers. 
They should do this with little or no direct assist- 
ance. Perhaps a number of children sufficient to 
take the parts can leave the room for a moment, 
assign the parts among themselves, return to the 
room, and dramatize the story. 

X (106). Words That Can be Used in Place of Said 

This lesson, which the teacher must study with 
the pupils, and the subsequent applications of it, is 
destined to increase the pupil's usable vocabulary. 
Write and keep on the board before the children, as 
is suggested in their book, a list of words that may 
be used in place of said. See that pupils are 
observant, that they do report to you, as directed, 
substitutes for this word. Call attention yourself to 
such words in the pupils' reading, if they pass them 
by unnoticed. Tell them that on a certain page, or 



i 2 6 TEACHER'S MANUAL 

in a certain paragraph, which they are reading, there 
is a word that might be replaced by said; let them 
find it. 

Encourage a discriminating, critical use of these 
words. Do not let the pupils get the idea that either 
said or any other word in the list may be used as 
any one pleases ; but lead them to see and to feel 
that, while one word might be used in place of sev- 
eral others, said in place of any of the others, there 
is one word, usually, that is better for a given place 
than any other. This is because that word fits, 
because it expresses definitely and fully just what 
ought to be expressed in that place. Said can be 
used so much, under such diverse circumstances, 
because its meaning is so very general, because it 
tells so little that is definite. It may be applied to 
question, answer, statement, to any utterance of 
actual or imaginary words ; it gives no suggestion 
of the manner of utterance. Note the transforma- 
tions that may be wrought in the simplest, most 
commonplace sentence, by substituting different 
words for said. 

"Give me my hat," said the boy. 
"Give me my hat," shouted the boy. 
"Give me my hat," whimpered the boy. 
"Give me my hat," laughed the boy. 
"Give me my hat," faltered the boy. 
" Give me my hat," grumbled the boy. 
" Give me my hat," pleaded the boy. 
" Give me my hat," shivered the boy. 



WORDS THAT CAN BE USED IN PLACE OF SAID 127 

"Give me my hat," mocked the boy. 
"Give me my hat," shrieked the boy. 
" Give me my hat," commanded the boy. 
" Give me my hat," hissed the boy. 

How different the whole sentence looks, how dif- 
ferent the mental picture and feeling aroused, as 
one word after another is substituted for the practi- 
cally meaningless said. 

In learning to use the right word, the definite, 
meaningful word, instead of the vague word, the 
child is not merely enlarging his usable vocabulary, 
he is learning to think and to express his thoughts 
definitely. This lesson is not to be learned once for 
all ; it is a lesson for the whole school course, for 
life. It is not to be learned formally, by rule, precept, 
and formula; it is to be learned gradually, here a 
little, there a little, as occasion and experience offer 
opportunity. 

It is with this far look ahead that you should take 
up the study of this lesson with the children, that 
you should continue it incidentally, but none the 
less effectively, throughout all your work with them. 
The work with these words is typical ; it calls for 
and develops that discriminating judgment and taste 
which pupils must learn to exercise generally in the 
process of becoming keen thinkers and forceful 
speakers and writers. 



128 TEACHER'S MANUAL 

XI (108). Questions for You 

Before pupils write answers to the questions in 
their book, get them to discuss freely what makes a 
home beautiful — order, neatness, cleanliness, help- 
fulness, cheerfulness, prompt obedience — and what 
makes a schoolroom happy — industry, cheerfulness, 
politeness, helpfulness. 

XII (108). Picture Stories 

(The mouse in fairyland, p. 109) 

As the children have now had some experience in 
working out picture stories, they should have devel- 
oped considerable self-confidence and some origi- 
nality of conception. Not to hamper them by too 
many and too definite suggestions, the questions 
given them on the mouse in fairyland picture are 
but few. What they now most need is the oppor- 
tunity to do their own thinking and to be aided, as 
necessary, to put their thoughts and the expression 
of their thoughts into good story form. This aid 
must come after their original thought — must not 
suggest the thought itself — and, hence, must be 
given by the skillful teacher who knows how to fol- 
low, to direct from behind. 

The possibilities of the mouse in fairyland pic- 
ture are almost unlimited, as any class of children 
working on it freely will quickly demonstrate. To 
prepare herself instantly to appreciate and tactfully 



PICTURE STORIES 129 

to direct the utilization of the children's varied con- 
ceptions, the teacher should make a. thorough study 
of the picture, that she may anticipate many of its 
possibilities. 

After the pupils have studied the lesson alone — 
as long as they are evidently thinking — take it up 
with them. Perhaps many of the following ideas 
will develop. 

In the pupils' book two possible reasons are sug- 
gested for the mouse's coming to the fairies. Sup- 
pose the first one, that he was afraid of something 
at home and ran away, is accepted. 

Of what was he afraid? (The cat.) 

What did the cat do? (Chased and almost caught him.) 

What did the little mouse say to his mother when he got home? 
(" O Mother, the big gray cat almost caught me ! I'm afraid. I 
am going to look for a land where there are no cats.") 

What did the mother answer? (" There is only one such land, 
and that is Fairyland.") 

What did the little mouse do then? (He set out to look for 
Fairyland.) 

By and by he came to the river. Whom did he see swimming 
about ? 

What did he say to the duck? ("O Mr. Duck, do you know 
where Fairyland is ? ") 

What did the duck answer? The picture shows that he knew. 
(" Yes, Fairyland is in the still pool where the water lilies grow.") 

What did the little mouse then ask? ("Mr. Duck, will you 
take me to Fairyland?") 

What did the duck answer ? 

What did he do? 

When the mouse reached Fairyland, what did he say to the 



i3° 



TEACHER'S MANUAL 



fairy queen? ("I am afraid at home, for the old gray cat is 
always chasing me. I want to live in a land where there are no 
cats. May I live here? ") 

Could the mouse live in the still pool? Would he not drown? 

How might the fairy change him ? (The fairy might say, " If 
you stay here you will drown unless I change you into a fairy. 
Would you like to be a fairy?") 

What did the little mouse answer? 

How did the queen change him into a fairy? (Touched him 
with her wand and said, 

" Little mouse, so soft and gray, 
Be a fairy from to-day ! ") 

Then what did the little mouse do? (He flew around singing, 

" Now I'm happy ! Now I'm free ! 
No old gray cat can ever catch me ! ") 

Suppose the second suggestion, that the mouse 
wanted the fairies to do something for him, is 
taken. 

What fairy gift might a little mouse like to have ? 

What is the chief care of a little field mouse ? (To provide 
food for himself and his family. Suppose that the grain in the field 
in which he has his home has been destroyed. The little mouse 
fears the coming winter and goes to the fairies for help. Fairy 
Queen gives him a bag of grain — a fairy bag that will never 
be empty.) 

Or, suppose neither of the above suggestions are 
taken. Perhaps the story will resemble the fable 
of The Lion and the Mouse. 

Why does the duck help the mouse — they are not usually 
friends ? (Perhaps the duck was once caught in a net, or tied 



SUPPLEMENTARY WORK 131 

to a stake, when the mouse freed it. Later when the mouse is 
in trouble, the duck carries him to the fairies, who give him a 
fairy gift.) 

The three suggestions above were among a much 
larger number actually made and worked out by 
children. 

At any point the children in your class may 
branch off, as for example, at the very beginning, 
the children may say he was afraid of traps. Again, 
when it comes to the test, the mouse may prefer to 
brave the cat rather than leave his mother and 
home and become a fairy ; or the fairy queen may 
change him info some animal that is not afraid of 
cats. 

Whatever suggestion is accepted at any point 
in the story — and a variety of suggestions should 
always be encouraged — you must be careful that 
it is in harmony with the story as developed to that 
point, and that the further development of the story 
is in harmony with the suggestion. 

Supplementary Work 

1. Take any good suggestion made but not used 
because not in harmony with the story as it was 
being worked out, and work out a story in harmony 
with the suggestion. 

2. A story worked out in accordance with any 
of the three main suggestions above is suitable for 
dramatizing. 



132 TEACHER'S MANUAL 

XIII (no). More Picture Stories 

(The child's visit to the fairies, p. m) 

The teacher should study this lesson with the 
children from the beginning. They may not know 
very much about fairies and elves. This picture 
furnishes occasion to feed their natural interest and 
curiosity — to tell them about the appearance of 
fairies and elves ; their homes ; their ways of ap- 
pearing to those they love ; their joy in good 
children, especially kind children, and those who 
believe in fairies and their gifts. 

You should keep ever in your own mind that the 
fairies stand for beauty and unfailing justice. 'The 
help of the fairies is never given to the lazy or 
cruel. They always reward the good, and punish, 
or if possible reform, the bad. Fairy stories satisfy 
the child's own demand for strict poetic justice. 

The elves are the fairy workers. No better idea 
of the elves can be given the children than that 
found in Grimm's Fairy Tales, in the story of The 
Shoemaker and the Elves. This story may be told 
to the children at this time. 

Explain more fully what is told the children 
under the questions, " What is another name for the 
Land of Faraway?" and "Where is the door that 
leads to the Land of Faraway ? " found in the chil- 
dren's book. 

More is left to the imagination in this picture 



MORE PICTURE STORIES 133 

than in any yet given. Of imaginative power there 
will be no lack. Many children, however, will not 
have had experiences which will enable them to 
conceive adequate pictures of the scenes in Fairy- 
land. Here the teacher must help. By showing 
many pictures, preferably colored, and by supple- 
menting these with vivid word pictures made up of 
bits of childish experience, the children will be 
enabled readily to conceive the scenes and activities 
of Fairyland. They will see the trees of Fairyland 
covered with gorgeous flowers and wondrous fruits ; 
they will see birds of brilliant plumage flying about, 
and hear their glad songs ; they will lie on the grass, 
soft and green as moss ; they will gaze up at the 
sky, deep and blue ; they will mingle with the fairies 
in their brilliant dresses and with wings more 
beautiful than the wings of the finest butterfly; they 
will delight in the hurrying elves with the silver 
bells on their shoes and caps tinkling as they flit 
about. 

All these delights of Fairyland any child may 
experience to the full — with your help. It will 
take time ; more than all, it will require sympathy 
and enthusiasm. Do you know the Faraway 
Land ? Then you will know how, you will want 
to introduce your children to its unending joys. 
This is not impractical, for the more real one's 
mental pictures of the Faraway Land, the more 
beautiful conceptions will he form of the Near- 



134 TEACHER'S MANUAL 

Nowaday Land, and the more earnestly will he 
strive to make these conceptions real. 

Here are some suggestions for one of the many 
stories that the picture suggests. 

A Dream of Fairyland 

(Title should not be supplied until the end.) 

Little ■ (select name suggested by children) and his mothei 

went into the woods one bright summer day. They sat down in 
the shade and mother took out her sewing. 

" Please tell me a story, Mother," said . " Tell me a 

pretty fairy story." 

So mother told the child, not one, but many beautiful fairy 

tales. When she had finished, lay on the soft moss and 

thought, " There may be fairies living in this very wood. Perhaps 
some are hiding now behind that great tree just in front of me. 
I wonder how people go to the Faraway Land where the fairies 
live. I wish, Oh, how I wish a fairy would come and take me to 
Fairyland ! " 

(Notice that this introduction brings into the story the chief 
objects of interest in the picture — tree, sign, fairies.) 

The woods seemed very quiet. The little birds had stopped 
singing. There was no sound but the rustle, rustle of the leaves 

in the great tree just in front of . He closed his eyes for 

one little minute. Then he heard a sweet voice say, " Do you 
really want to go to the Faraway Land?" 

opened his eyes. There stood (the picture tells what). 

What did see in the trunk of the great tree before him ? 

(Door.) What was written above the door ? What did the fairy 
do ? What did the child see and do in the Faraway Land ? 
(Here the teacher must help the pupils.) 

The child had a beautiful time, dancing with the fairies, play- 
ing with the elves, eating honey and dew, and admiring all the 
wonderful sights of Fairyland. 



MORE PICTURE STORIES 135 

At last the fairy queen said, "You make such a dear little elf 
that I think I must keep you here always. How would you like 
to be dressed like one of these little elves and live with me 
forever? " 

(The remainder of the story will depend upon the boy's 
answer to this question. If he says, "Yes," what will happen?) 

" No, no," cried the child. " I do not want to stay here 
always. Fairyland is lovely, but I want to go home to my 
mother ! " At the thought of his mother, the child began to cry 
softly, " O Mother, Mother, Mother ! " 

" There, there ! " said a soft voice that sounded like the fairy 
queen's and like mother's, too, " don't cry, my child." (If this 
was the fairy queen speaking, what might she do to comfort the 
child? Send for his mother to come to Fairyland? Then how 
might the story continue and end?) "Open your eyes. You have 
had a bad dream." 

The child opened his eyes. He was resting on the soft moss, 
and mother was bending over him. 

" No," he said, as he looked at the big tree just in front of 
him, " no, it was not a bad- dream. It was the most beautiful 
dream I ever had. But I am glad it was only a dream." Then 

slipped his little hand into mother's and told her the story 

of his visit to the Land of Faraway. 

The above outline is offered merely as a type. 
It is not intended to impose it upon the teacher, 
nor must she impose this or any other outline which 
she may make upon the children. If a story is ever 
worked out with the children to fit an outline which 
the teacher already has in mind, this should not be 
done at a sacrifice of the pupils' own original con- 
ceptions. The ideas, just as far as possible, should 
always come from the children. The chief function 



136 TEACHER'S MANUAL 

of the teacher is to follow the children in their con- 
ceptions and to help them to build their conceptions 
into a harmonious and complete story. The chil- 
dren are to furnish the content, the teacher is to 
help them give it form. 

Supplementary Work 

i. Let the little boy tell his story. 

2. Let the fairy queen tell her story. 

3. One or more of the stories may be dramatized. 

XIV (113). Studying a Poem 

Read to the children, with appropriate expression, 
The Chestnut Bur. Study the lesson with them in 
their book. In having parts of the poem read, as 
directed, work for free, dramatic expression. This 
is to be secured, not by demanding it, but by mak- 
ing the children feel free, by getting them " into the 
spirit " of the poem, by making them enjoy it, by 
making them want to express the different parts of 
it just as they think these should be expressed. 
Such freedom, enjoyment, and desire for discrimi- 
nating expression is contagious ; let the teacher 
furnish the source of it. 

After this detailed study, have as many children 
read the poem as time allows, remembering that the 
purpose of every child must be to give a thoughtful, 
discriminating rendering, to express his conceptions 
as effectively as he can. 



MEMORIZING A POEM 137 

Supplementary "Work 

i. Let the children dramatize the story in the 
poem. They should be able to do this with little 
or no direct assistance. It will help them to recall 
the movements of the wind and the sunshine fairies 
as they dramatized them in the story, The Little 
White Floiver (p. 91). 

2. Children may tell the complete story from 
the poem. This should not be too difficult, after 
the detailed study and dramatization ; the events 
are simple and given in natural order, which the 
child should follow. Be not satisfied with a dry 
and colorless statement of the facts; that is no 
worthy reproduction at all. There must be life, 
animation, conversation, concrete detail, even to the 
introduction of many original touches not inconsist- 
ent with the main facts. 

XV (116). Memorizing a Poem 

The poem, The Chestnut Bur, is worthy of mem- 
orizing, not only on account of its appeal to the 
child's fancy, but because of the simple, natural 
order in which it tells the story, an order which will 
serve as a model for the original story work which 
the pupils will soon be doing. 

See that the pupils understand and follow the 
directions given in their book for memorizing the 
poem. After they have studied it in this way for 



138 TEACHER'S MANUAL 

eight or ten minutes, test them. Probably some 
will be able to recite all three stanzas while others 
will scarcely have mastered the first. Commend 
the efforts of every one who has tried faithfully, and 
next time the results will be better ; censure honest 
effort, and next time the results, if not the effort, 
will probably be less satisfactory. 

Do not permit any mere word repetition of the 
poem. The pupil who cannot say it with appropri- 
ate expression has not really learned it. 

Keep this, and all other poems that are memo- 
rized, fresh by occasional review. 



CHAPTER SIX 

On account of the relation of this chapter to 
the preceding work it is especially suited either to 
the conclusion of the third or to the beginning of the 
fourth year's work ; or, better still, it may serve both 
as the concluding chapter of the third and the be- 
ginning chapter of the fourth year of language 
study. 

The chapter takes up nothing distinctly new — 
unless the writing of conversation in dialogue form 
be so considered. Study the work given and com- 
pare it with that covered in the preceding chapters, 
and you will find that everything taken up pre- 
viously — all kinds of exercises and all marks and 
forms — is here reviewed thoroughly and the power 
and acquisitions of the individual pupil well tested. 
Yet this is by no means a review chapter in the con- 
ventional meaning of that term. The reviews and 
tests are accomplished — and most effectively — not 
through repetition of exercises already given, but 
through new and varied material and exercises 
which will interest the children and elicit their best 
efforts not less than the work of any preceding 
chapter. 

139 



i 4 o TEACHER'S MANUAL 

Whenever this chapter is completed, whether 
at the end of the third or at the beginning of the 
fourth year, or at both these periods, compare the 
work from the beginning of the book and the pur- 
poses of it with the actual accomplishment of the 
children. If these questions can be answered in 
the affirmative, the study thus far has been a 
success. 

1. Have the children assimilated the ideas and the 
spirit of the stories — the fables and myths — made them 
an integral and usable part of their mental assets ? 

2. Have they developed a considerable degree of con- 
trol over their mental stores and mental powers so that 
they can reproduce and invent stories with some touch of 
originality and express them orally with effect ? 

3. Are they beginning to acquire the power of express- 
ing their thought — reproduced and original — in writing ? 

4. Have they acquired some facility — through dramatiz- 
ing, dialogue, impersonation, and conversation — in throw- 
ing themselves appreciatively into the position of different 
characters ? 

5. Are they acquiring freedom, naturalness, spontaneity, 
and individuality of thought, feeling, and expression ? 

6. Do they know and understand how, when, and why 
to use, and are they forming the habit of using correctly 
the forms and words that have been especially taught ? 

(a) The capital to begin the first word of a sentence ; 
to begin the first and principal words of a 
title ; to begin proper names ; to begin every 
line of poetry ; to begin quotations. 



FURTHER STUDY OF QUOTATIONS 141 

(b) The period at the end of a statement. 

(c) The question mark. 

(d) Quotation marks. 

(e) Their, there ; to, too, two. 

Apply these questions not merely to your class as 
a whole, but to every individual in it. If they can 
be answered affirmatively for every individual, you 
need not worry about the class ; if any question 
must be answered negatively for any child, it does 
not help that child that the same question can be 
answered affirmatively for all the other children. 
Try to locate and to correct individual weaknesses. 

I (117). Further Study of Quotations ; Capital J 

Study with the children the lesson in their book ; 
supplement the questions there given by such others 
as may be necessary. In every sentence have the 
pupil tell the quotation, the rest of the sentence, 
and how these parts of the sentence are separated, 
like this : 

She said, "Who will plant this wheat ?" 
The quotation is, Who will plant this wheat? 
The rest of the sentence is, she said. 

The quotation is separated from the rest of the sentence by a 
comma. 

To avoid confusing the child, no suggestion is 
made in the pupils' book of exceptions to the rule, 
" The first word of a quotation begins with a capital 
letter." Care has been taken throughout the book 



142 TEACHER'S MANUAL 

to introduce no exception to this in matter given for 
the pupils' study. Should a pupil call attention to 
a quotation, the first word of which does not begin 
with a capital, such as may be found in the pupils' 
book, pages 140, 157, and elsewhere, it may be ex- 
plained briefly that single words, or a few words 
that would not make a complete sentence if they 
stood alone, are begun with small letters when 
quoted. No other exception to the general rule is 
likely to be met or noted by the pupils. As they 
advance in their language study, and with the gen- 
eral rule fixed, they will easily grasp and apply the 
exception. 

II (120). Copying to Learn the Writing of Quotations 

and the Capital I 

Do everything possible to encourage accuracy 
and neatness in the pupils' work. Try to make 
sure that pupils do think to themselves the reasons 
for the use of marks of punctuation, quotation marks, 
and capitals, as they make them. Help pupils to 
avoid mistakes. Have the mistakes that are made 
— in spite of your efforts and the efforts of the pu- 
pils — corrected at once by the pupil after giving 
the reasons for the correct form. In the correcting 
follow carefully the directions given in Chapter Five 
(p. 116). 

Save the pupils' papers. Add to them the papers 
written on the remaining parts of the story, as these 



PUPILS' STUDY IN PREPARATION FOR DICTATION 143 

are studied. When the story has been completed, 
each pupils papers may be bound into a little book- 
let, for which the pupil may make and decorate a 
suitable cover. 



Ill (121). Pupils' Study in Preparation for Dictation 

While .the pupils are studying this lesson, go from 
one to another — especially among the poorer pu- 
pils — to see that every one is really studying intelli- 
gently. You must know what each one's weaknesses 
are and what difficulties he is likely to have. Per- 
haps one is not telling himself the reason for the 
use of the capital to begin the word Who, second 
sentence, because he has forgotten. By questions 
and suggestions help him to remember that the book 
has told him already the reason for this, and help 
him to turn back in his book until he finds it (p. 118). 
Similarly, help other pupils to find out from some 
previous lesson why / is a capital, why the comma 
is used, and why the question mark is inside the 
quotation marks. 

In all of this, do as little for the pupil as possible, 
get him to do all he can for himself. Of course it 
is much easier — and it takes far less time — to tell 
the pupil at once what he seems to need, to call upon 
some other pupil to tell him, or to refer him to the 
exact place in his book where the desired information 
is given ; but this is not training the pupil to help 



144 



TEACHER'S MANUAL 



himself, to rely upon himself, to command and to 
use what he has learned and the book in which he 
has learned it — it is doing just the reverse, en- 
couraging dependence on others. You will often 
find that a pupil really does know what he seems 
not to know, what he thinks himself he does not 
know; you will find also that many, perhaps most 
pupils, are not using their books, but merely reading 
in them what they are specially told to read. Now 
here are two of the most important lessons that any 
pupil can learn in school, two of the most valuable 
habits that any one can acquire, the habit of using 
what one has learned and the habit of using books ; 
these habits are of vastly more moment than the 
knowledge of any number of mere facts, rules, or 
principles of language or of any other subject. The 
process of teaching and learning language and every 
other subject must be such as to insure the estab- 
lishment and development of these habits. Fortu- 
nately, the process of teaching and learning that 
will accomplish this is, in the long run, the most 
effective that can be employed, considered merely 
from the standpoint of the mastery of any given 
subject. 

After the pupils have studied by themselves for 
ten or twelve minutes, you may take up the last two 
or three sentences for class study aloud. 



TESTING AND TEACHING THROUGH DICTATION 145 

IV (122). Testing- and Teaching through Dictation 

A dictation exercise that has any value is given, 
not because dictation is a good way to teach language, 
but because that particular exercise, rightly used, is 
suitable for the teaching of certain definite things. 
That a dictation exercise may be effective, the 
teacher must have clearly in mind the specific things 
which may be taught through that exercise ; then 
she must conduct the exercise in a way to teach 
those specific things. Part Two of The Little Red 
Hen, which is to be dictated at this time, may be 
made to test and teach almost every conventional 
written form that pupils have thus far studied : 



Capitals 



to begin the first and principal words of a title. 

to begin the first word of a sentence. 

to begin the first word of a quotation. 

for the word /. 
A period at the end of a sentence that is a statement. 
A question mark at the end of a sentence that asks a question. 
A comma to separate a quotation from the rest of the sentence. 
Quotation marks to inclose a quotation. 

For the purpose of anticipating mistakes, it will 
be well to question pupils on these matters just be- 
fore beginning the dictation. Dictate full sentences, 
even though the sentence, like the second, may 
seem long. Better repeat, and have pupils repeat 
after you, two or three times, than to break the 
sentence in the dictation. For further suggestions 
regarding dictation, see page 50. It should hardly 



146 TEACHER'S MANUAL 

be necessary here, as there advised, to question on 
each sentence in detail before it is written. Such 
questioning on the first sentence containing a quota- 
tion should suffice. 

In correcting, follow carefully the directions given 
in the exercise to which reference has just been 
made (p. 117). It is highly desirable to have the 
correction follow immediately the dictation. But if 
the time is too short for both the dictation and the 
correcting, take another period for the latter. The 
careful correcting of an exercise like this should 
never be omitted or slighted. Without correcting, 
the exercise has not served its purpose ; it has not 
taught, and it has tested in vain. Worse still, it has 
probably permitted the making of errors, uncon- 
sciously or in good faith, adding strength to the 
tendency to make the same errors again, and it has 
undoubtedly fostered in many pupils a feeling of in- 
difference to correct forms. Better not give .such 
an exercise than to stop with the dictation. 

V (122). Unstudied Dictation 

With only such study as you think necessary on 
the spelling of difficult words, such as drought, flour, 
and bread, which may be written on the board and 
spelled orally, dictate the following, which is Part 
Three of The Little Red Hen. Note that the last 
four of the six sentences are exactly the same as the 
corresponding four in Parts One and Two. 



SUMMARY OF THE USES OF CAPITALS 147 

The Little Red Hen 

The little red hen brought the flour home. 

Then she said, " Who will make this flour into bread? " 

The rat said, "Not I." 

The cat said, " Not I." 

The pig said, "Not I." 

" I will," said the little red hen, and she did. 

In dictating and correcting, follow the directions 
given in the last and in previous lessons. 

VI (123). A Written Reproduction 

In this lesson, which children are to study and 
prepare by themselves, do not try to keep them 
together in their work ; let each child begin to write 
as soon as he is ready. Insist that each one corrects 
his work, as directed, before he brings it to you for 
criticism. In the correction with you, when you 
note a mistake, do not tell the pupil outright what 
the mistake is ; with as little help as possible, let 
him find out what it is and tell what the correction 
should be and why. 

There is one, and only one, new point in this les- 
son, the use of the comma to separate 710 from the 
rest of the sentence. It is unnecessary to give any 
explanation of this, at this time, further than the 
statement that is given in the pupils' book. 

VII (124). Summary of the Uses of Capitals 

Note that the word paragraph is used several 
times. Attempt no definition of this term, simply 



148 TEACHER'S MANUAL 

use it and thus let pupils become familiar with the 
word and at least the appearance of the thing indi- 
cated. They can learn to use paragraphs, just as 
they have learned to use words and sentences, with- 
out being able to give or really to understand a defi- 
nition of any of these terms. 

Supplementary Work 

Taking as a basis any story, or part of a story, that 
has already been used in the pupils' book, question, 
as in this lesson, regarding the use of capitals. 

VIII (126). A Written Exercise on the Use of Capitals 

Your criticism and the pupils' correction of their 
work may begin as soon as the pupils begin to write. 
Go about from desk to desk. You will know what 
pupils need special help and encouragement in get- 
ting started. 

Of course the pupils' work must be correct in 
form as well as in reasons given for the use of the 
several capitals. 

IX (127). Reading 

Read the story to the children, then have them 
read it, first in narrative form, then in dialogue form, 
as was done in the case of the story, Mabel and the 
Fairy Folk (p. 52). Carry out here the suggestions 
given in that lesson for the reading and the critical 
discussion of the reading. 



WRITING A CONVERSATION IN DIALOGUE FORM 149 

X (130). Studying the Story, "The Star Visitor" 

This is a lesson for the pupils to study from their 
books. As the questions in their book indicate, the 
study of it will prepare them to dramatize it. To 
make their study thoroughly successful, you should 
supervise their work carefully, to insure that every 
one, particularly the poorer ones, and those who have 
not fully learned to concentrate their attention, are 
really working intelligently and faithfully. Near the 
close of their study period some of the more difficult 
questions should be taken up for oral answer and dis- 
cussion. 

XI (132). Dramatizing the Story, "The Star Visitor" 

Every exercise in dramatizing should put upon 
the children a little more responsibility than they 
have had in the past, should offer them more oppor- 
tunity for initiative and originality. Their experi- 
ence thus far and their thorough study of the story 
should enable them with slight help from the 
teacher and without hesitation to arrange and assign 
the parts, to locate the different scenes, and to carry 
out the play. 

See full directions and suggestions for dramatiz- 
ing (pp. 14, 38, 69). 

XII (132). Writing a Conversation in Dialogue Form 

See that pupils understand what is required of 
them. Supervise their work to see that they are 



150 TEACHER'S MANUAL 

applying correctly not only what they are told in 
this lesson, but all that they have learned about the 
use of capitals and the period. Let them copy the 
colon after the names of the speakers, the cat and 
the owl, without explanation. 

When they have finished writing have two chil- 
dren stand and read from their papers, one taking 
the part of the cat r the other of the owl. In this 
reading,, of course, they should omit the words, cat 
and owl. 

XIII (133). Picture Stories 

(Child in the snow, p. 134) 

This picture tells its story so vividly that the 
children need little help from the teacher \\\ getting 
the main facts ; to realize its possibilities :>f endless 
variety in detail, however, requires the teacher's 
skillful guidance.. 

The questions in the children's book concerning 
the time that the little girl went out and the reason 
for her leaving home should call forth a variety of 
introductions. Here are some that have been given 
by children: 

1. She went out in the afternoon to visit her grandmother or a 
playmate, (a) She forgot and stayed too late. (6) She left in 
time but stopped to visit a little friend, (c) She stopped to play 
in the snow, (d) She stopped to coast with some other children. 
(e) She left in plenty of time, but it began to snow, the wind 
blew, and it suddenly began to grow dark, so she lost the path. 
(/) She left in plenty of time, but instead of keeping to the road, 



PICTURE STORIES 151 

she thought she would save time by cutting through the fields. 
The snow had covered all the paths ; as it grew dark, she lost her 
way. 

2. She went out after dark to look for her kitty and got lost. 

3. She is a poor little child who has no home and no parents. 
She was wandering from door to door begging until, almost 
frozen, she sank to the ground. 

4. She was cross because her mother would not let her do 
something that she wanted to do, so she ran away and got lost. 

Many answers may be given to the question ask- 
ing how long the dog has been with the child. Of 
course the answer to this question and the intro- 
duction that is selected for the story must be in har- 
mony. Either the answer to this question must fit 
the introduction, or the latter must be made to fit 
the answer ; perhaps it will seem best to modify each 
somewhat. 

Whatever the beginning and the main part, the 
story may have several different endings. A satis- 
factory ending should see the child taken to a place 
of comfort, her own home or elsewhere, tenderly 
cared for, and fully restored. 

See that the dog is given his full share of credit. 

Do not be satisfied with one good title. Perhaps 
the children will give you some of the following: 
Saved ! Brave Rover, A Dog Hero, The Lost Child, 
Lost in the Drifts, Found! 

The title may be sought before the story is begun or 
after it is ended. A title chosen at the outset will 
often help to give form and direction to the story. 



152 TEACHER'S MANUAL 

Supplementary "Work 

Let children try to tell the story from the stand- 
point of the little girl. To do this they must be- 
come the little girl, go through her experiences and 
weave these into a connected story to be told in the 
first person. 

This exercise requires a change of attitude similar 
to that required in the dramatizing of a story. Like 
dramatizing it gives increased vividness to the 
pupil's conceptions, feelings, and expressions. Dif- 
ferent titles from those already used will be called 
for. Perhaps some like these will be found suitable : 

How I Went to Bed in the Snow 

When I Ran Away 

My Best Friend 

My Dream in the Snow 

XIV (135.) More Picture Stories 

(Children in the woods, p. 137) 

Study the lesson orally with the children. See 
that the latter part of the lesson has the effect in- 
tended, that it helps to show the children the folly 
of being afraid of imaginary things. Try to have 
them show their appreciation of this in the way 
they tell this part of the story. 

Supplementary Work 

1. The lesson of the folly of baseless fears may 
be reenforced by having stories told that may be 
suggested by these questions : 



SUPPLEMENTARY WORK 153 

Were you ever afraid of anything you saw at night that you 
would hardly notice in the daytime, such as hanging clothing, a 
shadow, a bush, an old stump, a stone, a noise? 

What did you do to cure yourself of your fright ? 

What might you have done? (Walked straight up to it and 
touched it.) 

This is the lesson to be driven home. Fear is in- 
side; nothing outside can harm. Examine the thing 
that causes fear; touch it, and the fear will vanish. 

2. Have pupils write the first paragraph of the 
story, telling how the children came to be alone 
in the woods at night and about their fright. Be- 
fore allowing them to write, work over the oral 
telling of the paragraph with them until each child 
knows just exactly what he is going to write, then he 
will not have to think of what he is to write so in- 
tensely that he will forget how to spell and punctuate. 
The better his oral form, the fewer mistakes in the 
written work to be corrected by pupil and teacher. 
It may help the children to put definite questions on 
the board before them, the answers to which, given 
in complete sentences, will make a connected whole. 
Such questions as these will serve : 

Where did three children go one day ? 
How did they happen to be out after dark ? 
On their way home what lonely place did they have to pass 
through ? 

How did the trees look? 

How did the children feel about it? 

What did they do ? 



154 TEACHERS MANUAL 

The answers given first orally and then in writing 
might be as follows : 

(a) One day three little children went to a party. They stayed 
so late that it was dark when they started for home. As they 
went home they had to pass through a wood. The trees looked 
like giants. The children were frightened. They ran home as 
fast as they could go. 

Or the answers might be more like this: 

(b) Three little children were out playing one day. They 
were having such a good time that they played until it was dark. 
On the way home they passed through a wood. The trees looked 
like monsters with great eyes and long arms and legs. The 
children were frightened. They took hold of hands and ran 
home. 

The first and second questions are the ones that 
offer most chance for variety. Take these questions 
separately, having several children in turn answer 
each question in a complete sentence. Thoughts 
like the following may be brought forth : 

The children loitered on their way from school (why ?) ; they 
were told never to go into the woods (why?) ; they disobeyed 
(why?) and were lost; they started to run away from home 
(why?), were frightened by the trees, and turned and ran home ; 
they came into the woods to get a Christmas tree, stayed too late, 
thought the trees were trying to punish them for cutting down 
their little brother ; they had been chasing the squirrels from their 
nests in the trees or stealing the squirrels' winter store of nuts and 
thought the trees were angry. 

When pupils have answered all questions in order, 
to insure connected thought, let them write. 



TELLING THE STORY FROM THE POEM 155 

3. Have children write as many titles for this 
story as they can, either writing in turn on the 
blackboard or on individual papers for seat work. 

4. Encourage the best pupils to write the whole 
story. If only one child writes the complete story 
have him carefully correct and copy it. Put his 
story away in some book or portfolio as the begin- 
ning of a collection of picture stories. Other chil- 
dren will be anxious to add to the collection. 

XV (138). Studying a Poem 

Read the poem, One, Two, Three, to and with 
the children. Let it be so read that every one will 
get fully into the spirit of it. Apply here the sug- 
gestions already given for effective reading, for the 
discussion and improvement of reading (pp. 8, 36). 

XVI (141). Telling the Story from the Poem 

After the children have studied the poem as di- 
rected, call upon several to tell the story of grandma 
and the little boy who was half past three. En- 
courage originality and individuality in the telling 

XVII (141). Playing ''One, Two, Three" 

Let the children choose one child to " hide." 
The child chosen may think a moment of the place 
where he will hide. He should think of some 
place in the vicinity — in the schoolroom, the build- 
ing, or the yard. If found desirable, the hiding 



156 TEACHER'S MANUAL 

place may be limited to the room, or the building. 
When the one hiding has chosen his hiding place, 
he calls, " Ready ! " Then the other children guess, 
under whatever restrictions may be imposed re- 
garding " turns," where he is hiding. 

In guessing, the children must ask good ques- 
tions, such as this, "Are you in the cloakroom?" 
and the one hiding must give full answers, like this, 
" No, I am not in the cloakroom." 

The one who is hiding may give a little help, as 
grandma did, by saying, " You are cold," if the 
place guessed is not near the place in which the 
child plays he is hiding, or, " You are warm," if 
the place guessed is near the chosen place. 

The one who guesses the hiding place takes his 
turn at hiding while the others "hunt " for him. 

There is no fun and little value in the game 
when it is allowed to drag. Every one must be 
alert, — think, guess, reply quickly. 

Playing this game has the same effect as drama- 
tizing. It helps the children to get fully into the 
spirit of the poem and to appreciate such expressions 
as, " In guesses One, Two, Three," " You are in the 
china closet," " But he still had Two and Three," 
" You are warm and warmer," " And he found her 
with his Three." Following the play let the children 
read the poem again ; they will show that they are 
now playing with Grandma and the wee lad. 



CHAPTER SEVEN 

Chapter Six was a transition chapter. It served 
to test and review — not by formal repetition, but 
through use — the results of the work of the preced- 
ing chapters. Even though that chapter may have 
been completed at the end of the third year, the work 
of the fourth year should begin with it. 

In preparation for the work of this chapter, you 
should familiarize yourself thoroughly with all the 
work of the preceding chapters so that you will 
know not merely the specific things that have been 
taught, but so that you may at the outset get fully 
into the spirit and purpose of the work. At the 
opening of each previous chapter you will find a 
summary statement of what the chapter contains ; 
but it is not enough to read these summaries. The 
work of every chapter, as explained in this Manual 
and as presented in the pupils' book, should be 
studied until mastered. Only thus can you prepare 
yourself to direct successfully the continuation of 
your pupils' work as they take up Chapter Seven. 
This chapter, also, you should study through care- 
fully in the light of the previous chapters, before 
beginning the work with the children. 

You will observe that all the main ideas, all the 

157 



158 TEACHER'S MANUAL 

principal kinds of work, all the conventional forms, 
presented in the first six chapters, are continued in 
this chapter. The work of this and of subsequent 
chapters, which keep in constant review through 
use in ever changing ways all the essentials pre- 
sented from the beginning, should be made to 
correct any of the weaknesses of previous work, 
however these may have arisen. 

This plan of advance must not suggest the forget- 
ting either by pupils or teacher of the work of the 
past, even of the precise form and content of much 
of it. On the contrary, past work should always be 
kept fresh by reference and comparison ; it furnishes 
types which are of inestimable value in facilitating 
the appreciation and mastery of future work. This 
suggests another and important reason for the inti- 
mate familiarity of the teacher with all the pupils' 
previous work. 

In addition to the continuation of all kinds of 
work previously taken up, this chapter contains the 
following new work : 

1. The names of the days of the week ; their origin and 
meaning. Practice in writing them in full and abbreviated. 

2. The use of the period in writing abbreviations. 

3. Possessives and the use of the apostrophe. 

4. Writing a story from different standpoints, those of 
different actors or observers. 

5. The beginnings of written picture stories. 



STUDYING A STORY 159 

I (142). Studying a Story; Quotations Reviewed; 
Capitals to Begin Days of the Week 

Read the story through with the children. Ask 
them to read by paragraphs. Just say, " Read the 
first paragraph, the second paragraph, etc." Ask 
such questions and give such directions as these: 
How many paragraphs in this story? What is 
the first word of the first paragraph ? Of the sec- 
ond paragraph? Read the first sentence of the 
second paragraph. Read the last sentence of the 
first paragraph. Read the third sentence of the last 
paragraph. 

Use the word paragraph freely in talking about 
the story and in studying it. This is for the purpose 
of familiarizing the children with the use of the term 
and making them observant of the division of stories 
into paragraphs. Attempt no definition or formal 
description of a paragraph (see p. 47). 

See how many children will note the words Sun- 
day and Mo7iday beginning with capitals and recog- 
nize that they offer something new. Their atten- 
tion may be directed to them by such questions as 
these: What words begin with capitals in the first 
sentence of the first paragraph ? Why ? What words 
begin with capitals in the third sentence of the third 
paragraph? Why? Let children study aloud the 
use of capitals to begin these words, using the form 
given in their book. 

Have pupils study independently the questions on 



160 TEACHER'S MANUAL 

the lesson, but hold yourself in readiness to answer 
any question or to direct the work of any child that 
may be having difficulty. See that every pupil 
is really studying actively and understandingly. Be 
quick to detect the concealment of inactivity and 
nonexertion by the mere semblance of attention. 
Do not allow children to form this lazy, sleepy habit; 
arouse them. 

In studying the quotations of this story say noth- 
ing about the break in a quotation, such as occurs 
in paragraphs two and three; just teach and insist 
that pupils learn and say that all the exact words of 
a speaker — all and not one more — must have 
quotation marks around them. 

The quotation of paragraph two should be studied 
as follows: 

There are quotation marks around Go away, because these are 
the exact words of the sun. 

There is a comma to separate the quotation from the rest of the 
sentence. 

There is a period after the sentence, because it is a statement. 

There are quotation marks around Do you not know that this is 
my day ? You have done wrong on my day. So you cannot enter 
here. Go to the moon, because these are the exact words of the 
sun. 

Always have pupils, when giving a quotation, read 
every word of the quotation — and not a word more. 
This will train them to distinguish sharply the quota- 
tion from the other words of sentences. 



THE DAYS OF THE WEEK 161 

II (144). Dictation, Studied and Unstudied 

Without reviewing the questions on the last lesson 
or having pupils study it in any way, dictate the 
story as given below. The pupils should be acquir- 
ing power; this exercise will test them. As you 
will observe, the condensation of the story brings in 
some new sentences (unstudied dictation), while 
several are like the original (studied dictation). In 
dictation that has not been thoroughly studied, tell 
pupils when to begin a paragraph by saying, "Par- 
agraph." 

The Man in the Moon 

A man was lifted to the sky for working on Sunday. He tried 
to enter the sun. 

"Go away," said the sun. "You have done wrong on my 
day. I will not have you here. Go to the moon." 

The man entered the moon. There he stands until this very 
day. 

The story, as here abridged, is so short that it 
should be dictated and corrected in a single exercise. 
Observe directions already given for correcting 

(p. 48). 

Ill (144)- The Days of the Week; Origin of the 
Names ; Abbreviations ; Use of Capitals 

Study this lesson with the children, giving as 
little direct help as possible, but making sure that 
every one studies actively and intelligently as the 
pupils' book directs. Look over with each child, 



162 TEACHER'S MANUAL 

as he hands it to you, his written list of the names 
and abbreviations of the days of the week, so as to 
direct his attention to any errors that may have 
escaped him, and to secure his intelligent correction 
of these. 

IV (146). Original Exercise Involving the Writing of 
the Days of the Week in Full and Abbreviated 

Read over the lesson with the children. To pre- 
pare them for writing, as they are directed, have 
them tell interesting things that they did or that 
happened each day. Get them to make good, short, 
complete statements. Insist on things of real in- 
terest. Suggest that they tell of things that their 
father or mother, brother or sister, or a friend, if 
absent, would like to know, — things that the absent 
one would like to have written to him in a letter; 
or that they tell things that they would like to do 
again, or that they would like to have happen again. 

If the entire exercise — the oral preparation, the 
writing and correcting — is likely to be too long for 
a single lesson period, take the full time of one 
period for the oral work and leave the written exer- 
cise with its correction for a second period. Have 
each pupil correct his own work under your direction. 
The correcting may begin as soon as the first sen- 
tences are written, the teacher passing about among 
the desks. 

Do not tell a pupil what his mistake is, or what 



A STORY FROM A RHYME 163 

the correct form is ; give him just enough suggestion 
so that he can find out for himself. If he has made 
a mistake in writing a day, such as forgetting the 
initial capital, or the period after the abbreviation, 
or misspelling, direct his attention to the word ; if 
he fails to discover his mistake at once, let him look 
up the correct form in one of the type exercises in 
his book. 

Supplementary Work 

i. Pupils may repeat the written exercise of the 
lesson, each one choosing the form which he did 
not choose in the regular exercise. 

2. Let pupils copy or write from dictation the 
following rhyme : 

The Seven Days 

Monday says, "I wash the clothes." 
Tuesday says, " I iron them." 
Wednesday says, " I bake the cakes." 
Thursday says, " I eat them." 
Friday says, " I am sweeping day." 
Saturday says, " The children love me." 
Sunday says, " I am the Sabbath day. 
There is no day above me." 

V (147)- A Story from a Rhyme; the Apostrophe to 

Denote Possession 

Read the story with the children. Let them 
study it aloud with you, so that you may see that 
they study it as directed in their book. Have them 



164 TEACHER'S MANUAL 

study the quotations according to the form already 
given them. (Pupil's book, page 118. See also 
Manual, page 141.) 

The subject of possessives will be taken up more 
fully in Section VII. What is said here about 
clock 's will serve as a slight foretaste. The state- 
ment of the use of the apostrophe and the letter s, 
as formally given in the pupils' book (p. 152), should 
be carefully read at this time ; the memorizing of it 
may be deferred until Section VII. 

After the story has been studied as directed, have 
it told orally by several children. 

Supplementary "Work 

i. Have pupils copy or write from dictation the 
story, The Mouse and the Clock. 

2. Let pupils study the rhyme and then write it 
from memory. 

Before a pupil begins either exercise he should 
have a definite purpose — the writing of the rhyme 
or story correctly in all details, the use of capitals, 
punctuation and quotation marks, and spelling. It 
is not enough to assume that pupils know why they 
are required to do exercises like these. With this 
assumption on the part of the teacher, pupils will 
soon be doing what they are directed to do with no 
clearer or higher purpose than that of doing as they 
are told, which is the pupils' counterpart of the 
teacher's perfunctory assignment of exercises to fill. 



SUPPLEMENTARY WORK 165 

or " kill " time. Exercises which grow out of these 
vague, purposeless motives on the part of teacher 
and pupils only serve to develop and confirm all 
sorts of errors ; their correction is only a further 
waste of time. 

In every least exercise, whether regular or sup- 
plementary, have a definite, worthy purpose in giv- 
ing that exercise, and make sure that your pupils 
know that purpose at the outset and that they keep 
it constantly and clearly before them throughout 
the exercise. When the exercise is completed it 
must be corrected by the pupil — with such sugges- 
tion and direction as may be necessary from the 
teacher — always under the guidance of the purpose 
with which it was written. Has that purpose been 
realized ? 

There is here a bit of simple but profoundly im- 
portant pedagogy. Keen interest may be given to 
the dullest exercise by making of it a direct chal- 
lenge to the power of the pupil. Here is something 
for you to do ; these are the conditions. Can you 
do it? Now that you have tried it, let us see 
whether you have succeeded. In the instinctive 
response to a definite challenge lies the secret of 
much of the zest with which many games, puzzles, 
and physical exercises are pursued. Challenge your 
pupil effectively and he concentrates all his powers 
on the task you put before him — and he perseveres 
until he comes off victor. 



1 66 TEACHER'S MANUAL 

VI (i5 )- Reproducing- a Story from Different 
Standpoints 

This exercise consists in telling the story of the 
mouse and the clock — the subject of the last ex- 
ercise — from the standpoint of several different 
observers or participants, as the little mouse, the 
big mouse, the clock, or any article of furniture in 
the hall that may be supposed to have witnessed 
the events of the story. The exercise thus goes a 
step beyond mere reproduction ; it calls for imagina- 
tion and some originality of conception on the part 
of the pupil. This exercise will reveal the pupil's 
customary thought processes in reproducing a story. 
The pupil whose chief reliance is on memory of 
words will find this exercise very difficult, if he 
does not make complete failure of it. The pupil, 
on the other hand, who is in the habit of grasping 
and vividly imagining for himself the scenes and 
events of the story, and of relating these in words 
of his own, will find this exercise easy and highly 
interesting. For pupils of both types the exercise, 
rightly used, will prove most effective in giving a 
ready and easy command of thoughts and mental 
imagery, in accustoming pupils to feel and to see 
their own thoughts and mental pictures clearly, to 
hold these before their minds at will, to turn 
thoughts and images around, to vary their com- 
binations, to look at them from different stand- 
points, and to describe them as they see them. 



REPRODUCING A STORY 167 

The successful conduct of this exercise will de- 
pend, first of all, upon the teacher's ability and 
facility in doing what the exercise demands. You, 
the teacher, must have before your mind a vivid, 
clear-cut mental picture of a hall — a particular hall 
that you know or that you have seen in a picture 
— with all its necessary and customary furnishings 
and adornments. In that hall you must be able to 
see transpire all the events of the story. You must 
be able at will to put yourself in the place of any of 
the actors in the little drama or of any of the pieces 
of onlooking furniture, to see, to feel, and to describe 
everything from your assumed standpoint. Only 
with this ability can you hope to go quickly from 
one child to another, each one trying to tell the 
story from the standpoint of and through a different 
character, immediately to take your place beside 
each child, to lead each one to the right point of 
view, to help each one to see clearly what he alone 
would perhaps see* but dimly, in short, by your 
example to demonstrate concretely to each child 
what it is to see and to tell a story from different 
standpoints. Abstract directions, words alone, will 
not do this ; if you rely on words, you need expect 
to get nothing better than words in return. 

The best preparation you can make for this exer- 
cise, and you should not hesitate to make it, is to 
practice seeing and describing from many stand- 
points and in the role of different actors and ob- 



168 TEACHER'S MANUAL 

servers the hall and the events of the story. This 
practice will make you realize what you are calling 
upon the pupils to do, will enable you to assist them 
sympathetically. Just as you have done, each child 
must get and hold before his mind a clear-cut pic- 
ture of a concrete hall. Has he one at home ; has 
he seen such a hall in some house where he has 
visited ; will the school corridor do ? Lest some 
child may be lacking the necessary experience, try 
to have at hand a good picture of a hall with clock 
and other appropriate furnishings. 

After a little preliminary talk with the pupils — 
not too much, but just enough to give each one the 
idea of what is required and to arouse interest — let 
the written exercise begin. Remember, in passing 
from child to child, the most delicate, yet the most 
important thing for you to observe and to direct is 
not correctness in the spelling of words and the use 
of marks of punctuation — of course these are not to 
be neglected — but each child's assumed point of 
view, his mental picture, and his efforts and success 
in seeing and describing the picture and events in 
his own mind. 

The same thought should guide you in directing 
the correction of the pupils' stories. The exercise 
is not designed to teach anything new in form ; it is 
the material, the handling of the material, that is 
different from anything previously taught. On this 
phase of the exercise attention should be chiefly con- 



POSSESSIVES 169 

centrated, without, of course, overlooking mistakes 
in form. As in all other correcting exercises, the 
pupil must be helped to make his own corrections. 
For instance, if he has undertaken to tell the story 
from the standpoint of the big mouse, and has told 
it really from the standpoint of the moon — as in the 
original — he has evidently failed really to assume 
the part of the big mouse, to enter into it sympa- 
thetically. He must be helped to do this ; merely 
indicating the verbal changes that should be made 
in his story will do no good — that does not touch 
the real difficulty. When the child gets into the 
right attitude, he will see for himself what changes 
his story requires. Probably a full period — the one 
following that of the writing exercise — will be re- 
quired to complete the correcting of the stories. 
The exercise is worth the double period ; the cor- 
recting must not be slighted. 

Supplementary Work 

Exercises 6, 7, and 8, Chapter Twelve, furnish 
material for several stories. For further suggestions 
regarding such use of this material, see pp. 264-266. 

VII (151). Possessives 

Study this lesson with the pupils. Have them 
explain all the possessives in the story, Toms Escape, 
accounting for the apostrophe and s as directed in 
their book. If thought advisable, they may also 



170 



TEACHER'S MANUAL 



account for capitals and punctuation used in the 

story. The written part of the exercise should be 

examined as written, and necessary corrections made 

at once. 

Supplementary "Work 

Have the story, Toms Escape, written from dic- 
tation. 

In having this exercise carefully corrected, as 
it must be to be of value, require pupils invariably 
to give reasons for corrections and then to make 
them. (See pp. 48, 116, 117.) To illustrate, sup- 
pose a pupil has written Toms in the first sentence. 
Direct the pupil's attention to this word. If he does 
not see his mistake at once, ask, " What belongs to 
Tom ? " (Pupil's answer; " heart") " Then if Tom 
owns or possesses something, how should Toms be 
written?" (Pupil's answer: "There should be an 
apostrophe before s, because Tom's is a possessive.") 

VIII (153). Unstudied Dictation 

Dictate the following exercise. It will test the 
pupils' power to write the possessive form correctly. 
It will also review the writing of the days of the 
week. Have pupils correct their work immedi- 
ately, giving reasons for each correction. 

Monday's child is fair of face. 
Tuesday's child is full of grace. 
Wednesday's child is the child of woe. 
Thursday's child has far to go. 



STUDYING A POEM 171 

Friday's child is loving and giving. 
Saturday's child works hard for a living. 
The child that is born on the Sabbath day 
Is good and bonny and wise and gay. 



IX (153). Studying a Poem 

To make this lesson thoroughly successful and 
profitable you must prepare yourself for it. You 
must be able to get fully into the spirit of it, to live 
through with the little boy that " awful day " when 
he ran away. Read it over and over — not merely 
the words, but the ideas ; feel the emotions, stanza by 
stanza ; make your reading express those emotions 
and ideas. Thus you will prepare yourself to guide 
your pupils sympathetically in the reading and 
study of the poem. 

The exercise with the pupils should begin with 
your reading of the poem. This should be so 
effective that the attention and emotion of every 
child is seized at once, held and led along, stanza 
by stanza, in sympathy with the changing experi- 
ences of the little boy. In the first stanza, when 
the wind coaxes the little boy, he makes a personal 
appeal ; the voice should express this appeal ; the 
emphasis should be on the personal pronoun, — 
" Follow me I" In the second stanza the wind has 
ceased to coax, for the boy is already won. The 
wind calls to him gleefully and confidently, as to a 
vigorous comrade, " Follow me, follow me ! " In the 



172 



TEACHER'S MANUAL 



third stanza the rough, violent character of the 
wind appears ; there is no trace of coaxing in his 
voice ; he does not even speak as a comrade ; he 
commands sternly, " Follozv me!" The emphasis 
— and it is very decided — is on the verb, follow. 
As the echoing voices repeat, " Follow him ; fol- 
low ! " the second follow, in imitation of the echo, 
should be not less decided, but less loud than the 
first. In the fourth stanza the violence of the wind 
reaches a climax as he roars, " Follow me ! " but he 
is now only one of the terrifying monsters that sur- 
round the poor " scared, scared boy " ; there is the 
black cloud and the growling thunder; there is 
the hooting gray owl, calling out to the boy, de- 
manding who he is. In the fifth and last stanza 
the scene has quite changed ; the storm has passed ; 
the wind, the black cloud, the thunder, the hooting 
owl, have gone ; the gentle moon looks down 
kindly into the face of the chastened little boy and 
asks him if he is sorry. " If I light you home to 
your trundle-bed, will you stay there, will you stay, 
little boy ? " she asks in a tone that every repentant 
child understands. 

Similarly, trace through from stanza to stanza 
the change in tone required in reading the two 
closing lines of each stanza. In the first and sec- 
ond stanzas there is a certain impressiveness about 
" that day, that day " ; it is evidently no ordinary 
day to be lightly forgotten ; it is a memorable 



STUDYING A POEM 173 

day, but the reason for this has not yet been re- 
vealed. We await expectantly and with growing 
anxiety the revelation concerning that memorable 
day. The third stanza discloses the true character 
of the day; it was awful. It grew more and more 
awful ; in the fourth stanza it is revealed as the 
most awful, dread day in all the experience of one 
little boy — a day that will forever stand out with- 
out a rival as the dread day in all that boys life. 
In the fifth stanza, "Oh, what a day" sums up the 
whole experience of that day from its joyful begin- 
ning, through its awful developments, to its repent- 
ant close. The reader must feel all these changes, 
feel them through and through, and then he will 
readily and naturally express them in his voice. 

The rendering of the words of the thunder and 
of the owl must, of course, be imitative. The 
thunder growls deep and long, " No-0-0-0 ! " The 
owl hoots, " Who (are) you-00 ! Who (are) you-00 ! "' 
The sobbing of the boy as he says, " I'm lost away ! 
And I want to go home where my parents stay," 
may be produced by taking short, quick breaths. 

The real reading of this poem must be through 
the feelings far more than through the intellect. 
The purpose in studying it, as directed through the 
questions given in the pupils' book, is not primarily 
that the pupil may get a mere intellectual under- 
standing of the poem ; it is that he may get fully 
into the spirit of it, that he may feel it. The ques- 



174 TEACHER'S MANUAL 

tions and the answers to them must be made to 
serve this purpose, or the exercise will be a failure. 
To illustrate with some of the questions on the third 
stanza, it is no satisfactory answer to the second 
and third questions merely to say that the trees do 
not like the way the wind treats them, and that the 
rivers and rills are mad ; the answers must be given 
in a tone to express the pain of the trees with 
twisted leaf and limb, and the foaming madness of 
the rivers and rills. The illustrative reading called 
for in the course of the questions must not be per- 
functory, it must express fully and adequately — even 
sometimes to exaggeration — the thought and feel- 
ing of the passage. This is in preparation for the 
expressive, continuous reading of the poem. 

Although the poem is written in the past tense, 
most of the questions on it are given in the present 
tense. This adds to the vividness, the reality that 
must be produced in the pupil's mind. He cannot 
live through that " awful day " with the little boy in 
the past; he must do it right now. 

X (159). Dramatizing the Poem, ""When the Little 
Boy Ran Away" 

As far as possible the children should make their 
own plans, decide upon the characters, and assign 
the parts for the dramatization of the story. It may 
be well to read with them the suggestions and ques- 
tions given in their book, Chapter One (p. 6), in 



WRITING A DIALOGUE 175 

preparation for a dramatization. They will readily 
see the application of these questions and sugges- 
tions to the present undertaking. 

XI (159). "Writing a Dialogue 

Before the children begin to write, make sure that 
they understand what they are to do. Work out 
some of the dialogue with them orally. Let them 
compare the beginning sentences, which have been 
supplied them, with the beginning of the poem and 
see why the birds and the boy are made to speak 
thus. Let them give orally, under your guidance, 
the exact speech of several of the characters, as out- 
lined in blank in their book. See that they use the 
exact words of the poem in cases where the charac- 
ter speaks in the poem ; that they make the character 
speak appropriately in cases where the exact words 
must be supplied. They must not be told what 
to make a character say; they must be helped, when 
necessary, to " make up " themselves the words that 
they will have the character use. For example, if 
they are trying to supply the last speech of the mother 
and of the boy, they may be helped in this way: 

Teacher : What did his mother do ? 

Pupils : She welcomed the boy home. 

Teacher : What did she say to show that she was glad to see 
him? 

Pupils : I am so glad you are home again. 

Teacher : If you were that little boy, what would you say to 
your mother? 



176 TEACHER'S MANUAL 

In the preliminary class work, to make clear to all 
pupils what is to be done and how it is to be done, 
do not work out the whole dialogue. If you do, 
there will be too much sameness in the pupils' 
written work. Leave room for each one's original- 
ity; work out only enough of the parts to show 
how it is to be done. As the pupils write, help 
individually by question or suggestion as needed. 

The exercise should be carefully corrected at this 
or at the next lesson. The correction should not 
be limited to the form. The appropriateness of 
the speeches given to the several characters should 
be considered. If well done, the dialogue will tell 
a complete, connected story, without superfluous 
words and with no detail necessary to its under- 
standing omitted. 

Supplementary Work 

Exercises 8, 10, and 11, Chapter Twelve, may be 
written in dialogue form. 

XII (160). Finishing a Story- 
Read the incomplete story with the pupils as it is 
given in their book. Let it be read so well that 
every one will get into the spirit of it, will make it 
his own. Unless the pupil does this, he will be 
unable to continue and conclude the story appro- 
priately. Do not talk to the pupils as a class about 
the details of the ending of the story ; that will pro- 



A PICTURE STORY 177 

duce too much uniformity in results. Seek merely 
to arouse the imagination of each one, so that each 
will invent for himself an ending that he thinks 
suitable. 

As the children write, go about among them and 
give such individual hints and suggestions as may 
be necessary. Lead them to see that the story is 
not finished by merely telling what the boy saw, as 
" an Indian," " a bear," " his father." What hap- 
pened then ? What did the boy do ? What did the 
do ? What became of the boy ? Some con- 
versation may well be introduced. 

The endings, if really original and individual, 
will show much interesting variety. They should 
be read and discussed — criticized — by the class, 
and the best ones determined upon. 

XIII (162). A Picture Story 

(Children and the cave, p. 163) 

The outline for a story is given in the children's 
book. After making sure that they understand 
what is expected of them, let them study alone the 
questions and suggestions given to them. After 
they have had time to think out their stories have 
some of them told orally. 

Many variations from the outline given in the 
pupils' book will suggest themselves, variations 
which will work out into very different stories. 
Following are a few of the possible variations. 



178 TEACHER'S MANUAL 

i. The children may find the cave. As they were about to 
enter, perhaps they heard a noise that frightened Gretchen and 
made her pull her brother back. Perhaps she said, " That cave 
may be the home of a savage animal. I'm afraid." Suppose it 
was a wolf's den. How might the dwarfs help the children ? 

Suppose it was the owl that screeched and frightened the chil- 
dren. What might happen? 

Suppose the dwarfs heard Gretchen say the cave was the home 
of a savage animal. They knew it was their home, and they were 
sorry for the little girl. What might they say? ("Don't be 
afraid, little girl. That is not the home of a savage animal. It is 
our home. Come right in. No one shall harm you.") 

If the children entered the cave, what would they see? [A 
great room with walls of rock, lighted by what ? (A fairy ball of 
crystal? Many fireflies? Many glowworms? The moon shin- 
ing through an opening? A great blazing diamond? A wonder- 
ful star?) In the corner of the room a heap of shining treasure 
that the dwarfs had gathered — gold, silver, diamonds, emeralds, 
rubies, etc.?] 

If the children had wandered long in the forest they would be 
tired and hungry. What might the dwarfs give them to eat? 
(Things found in the woods and mountains — nuts, berries, fruits, 
clear cool water, honey?) What kind of bed might they give 
them? (Birds' feathers gathered by the dwarfs, soft moss, thistle- 
down, rose leaves?) 

Next morning would the dwarfs show the children the way 
home ? 

Fairies usually give gifts to those who visit them. What gifts 
might the dwarfs give the children as they were leaving? 

2. The children may be poor and come to the forest to ask 
the dwarfs to help them, knowing that the dwarfs have great 
treasure. They can only see the dwarfs at night when the moon 
is full. Hence their reason for being in the wood alone at night. 

How might the owl have helped them? (Led them to the 
dwarfs' cave? Called the dwarfs to see them?) 



SUPPLEMENTARY WORK 179 

Maybe the owl was the dwarfs' sentinel, keeping watch over the 
cave while the dwarfs worked. Perhaps he challenged the chil- 
dren, calling, "Who? Who? Who goes there?" This brought 
the dwarfs up from the ground. 

See the face on the tree over the cave. Perhaps the dwarfs 
had it to frighten people from the cave. 

The children were brave and loving. Did the dwarfs help 
them? Finish the story. 

3. The dwarfs might give the children some task to do, the 
faithful performance of which would determine whether or not 
they would help the children. What task — sorting out the 
precious stones without taking one, gathering dewdrops in tiny 
cups, going through the forest seeking creatures that needed their 
help and giving it gladly, Gretchen to make or mend clothes for 
the dwarfs or clean house, while Hans carried treasure into the 
cave? How did the children perform their tasks? Did they get 
what they wanted? 

Supplementary Work 

1. This story gives excellent material for dram- 
atizing. Let the children plan and carry out the 
dramatization with as little help and suggestion as 
possible. (See p. 149.) 

2. Let the little boy tell the story of his ex- 
periences. 

3. Let the little girl tell her story. 

4. Have the children make other stories of selfish 
boys or girls who saw the treasure that Hans and 
Gretchen brought from the forest and went to see 
the dwarfs. As these children were selfish, lazy, and 
cruel, did the dwarfs give any help ? What did they 
do? 



180 TEACHER'S MANUAL 

XIV (165). Writing a Story 

Before allowing the children to write answers to 
the questions given in their books, have them answer 
the questions orally in complete statements that 
will make a connected whole. This does not mean 
that each question should be answered by one state- 
ment. For example, the third question from the 
end, " What did these people do for them ? " may be 
answered completely with one sentence, or several 
sentences may be used. For instance, the answer 
may be : " The dwarfs let the children stay in their 
cave all night." Or it may be: "The dwarfs took 
the children into their cave. They showed them 
all their treasure. After they had given the children 
something to eat, they showed them two little beds. 
Here the children slept until morning." 

XV (165). More Picture Stories 

(The child and the brownie, p. 166.) 

The center of interest in this story is in the con- 
tents of the casket. What gift does it hold ? A 
fairy gift must be different from ordinary gifts. It 
may be : 

1. Money — money that never gives out. 

2. A purse — one that will never be empty. 

3. Shoes or any clothing — that will never wear out. 

4. Food — always a, fresh supply. 

5. A magic tablecloth. (Say, "Spread," and a dainty re- 
past will be ready; "Away," and it will fold itself inside the box.) 



MORE PICTURE STORIES 181 

6. A bottle of magic water that will make the sick well, the 
sad happy, the sorrowful glad. 

7. A fairy ring. (Turn ring and wish; if the wish is good 
it will come true; if foolish, ring will" tighten on finger; if bad, 
ring will fall from the hand and roll away.) 

8. A fairy wand. 

9. A wishing airship — one that takes a person wherever he 
wishes to go. 

10. A bird that makes the most wonderful music — music 
that makes every one who hears it happy. 

11. A cloak or hat that makes one invisible. 

12. A magic sword. 

13. A key that will open all doors. 

14. A spinning wheel that spins threads of gold. 

15. A tiny tree that bears a golden acorn every day. 

16. A magic seed from which grows a wonderful plant. 

The above are a few of the gifts that children 
have found in the casket. Your children will find 
others, as well as, perhaps, some of these. 

The gift and the use that can be made of it, the 
use that the child and her mother do make of it, will 
determine the ending of the story. 

For supplementary work the children can make 
other stories telling what the child did with her 

gift. 

The questions in the children's book suggest 
varied answers which they should be encouraged to 
give. Let them study the lesson by themselves in 
preparation for the oral telling of the story ; you 
need help them only in selecting a suitable fairy 

gift. 



182 TEACHER'S MANUAL 

XVI (169). Writing Stories 

Have children finish the story orally before writ- 
ing the ending. Let each child choose for himself 
the story, as begun in his book, which he will finish ; 
or let any one who will, write a complete story from 
the beginning. 

XVII (170). A Fairy Wish 

Let the children write the answer to the question 
of the lesson entirely without help. Have a few of 
their papers read, compared, and discussed by the 
children. 

The comparison and discussion should be so 
directed as to bring out the merits of the papers, 
particularly respecting the wisdom and originality 
of the wish. 

Supplementary Work 

Have each child find a picture that tells a story — 
that tells a story to him. Most pupils will bring a 
picture from home. Some through carelessness, 
indifference, or on account of home conditions will 
fail to bring any. Therefore, the teacher, with the 
help of those who can get a supply at home, should 
make a collection of pictures and keep them in a 
box or a drawer that is easily accessible to the chil- 
dren. Good pictures can be found in magazines, 
old copies of which can often be procured at the 



SUPPLEMENTARY WORK 183 

reading rooms of public libraries. Some advertise- 
ments are good. 

Tell the children, the day before the lesson is to be 
given, that they are to come with a picture that tells 
them a story and that each may show his picture to 
the class and tell the children the story he finds in 
it. Let those who cannot get a picture at home, or 
who have failed to bring one, select one from the 
teacher's collection. Do not select a picture for a 
child ; let the child choose one that speaks to him. 

Let children tell their stones, helping them to 
get them into good form. Then have them write 
the stories and mount their pictures on their cor- 
rected, copied papers. 



CHAPTER EIGHT 

A study of the work of this chapter, which should 
be made before taking it up with the children, will 
show that it involves the continued use in varied 
ways of all the knowledge and power that pupils 
have acquired in their previous work. 

Its one large step in advance — and it is a most signifi- 
cant one — consists in the critical analysis and study of 
typical fables to learn their nature, content, purpose, and 
the way they are made. 

This study serves as the basis of the children's 
first efforts at making original fables. 

1(171). A Study of Fables 

The most fundamental thing in the teaching of 
language is not form, but material. The pupil's 
mind must be richly stored, not with material that 
is foreign, that he carries about with him undigested 
as a burden, but with material that he has assimi- 
lated, that has become a part of his very life. The 
mental life of the child, if it is to grow rich and 
deep, broad and strong, craves and must be pro- 
vided with material of greatest variety ; it needs the 
concrete facts of observation ; it needs the ideas 

184 



A STUDY OF FABLES 185 

that are born of the comparison of facts ; it needs 
equally the fanciful, poetic, mysterious, magic, won- 
derful ideas that feed the imagination ; it needs no 
less- the varied stimuli that exercise and develop the 
feelings, the emotions, and the will. 

Fables, the earliest form of literature originating 
in the childhood of the race, never fail to interest 
the children of all races and of every succeeding 
generation. Some of their most obvious character- 
istics which make them universally interesting are 
these: they are concrete; they are brief; they are 
easily and fully comprehensible ; they are pointed ; 
they deal with those elementary, universal notions 
and feelings of right and wrong, of justice, of sim- 
ple wisdom and shrewdness, on which our civilized 
life has been built up ; they teach an easily under- 
stood lesson with almost the force and conviction 
of a personal experience. On account of these 
characteristics, which are within the ready recogni- 
tion of the eight- or nine-year-old child, and on 
account of the interest which they invariably arouse, 
fables form the best avenue of approach to the prac- 
tical understanding of the production of real litera- 
ture ; they afford the best early lessons for the 
child — as they have already done for the race — 
in producing real literature. With such initiation 
into the simple secrets of the construction of fables 
as the first and succeeding lessons of this chapter 
in the pupils' book give, children readily become 



186 TEACHER'S MANUAL 

eager to try their hands at the writing of fables. 
And when they really succeed, as almost all chil- 
dren can, in writing very creditable fables, often- 
times fables that will bear favorable comparison 
with the classic ones of the books, it is an invaluable 
experience for them, a wonderful achievement in 
the process of learning really to use ideas and lan- 
guage in the creation of literature. They begin to 
see what real use they can make of language. They 
are invariably enthusiastic in the use of their new- 
born power — they want to write fables and still 
more fables, to make whole books of fables. 

This is the teacher's opportunity not merely to 
train the pupil in the effective expression of his own 
ideas, but equally in the use of correct form. How? 
Very easily. First of all, enter heartily into the 
enthusiasm of your pupils. They want to write 
fables ; you must want them to write fables. 
They want to make books of fables — class books, 
group books, individual books ; you want them 
to make such books. They want to write fables 
as good as, or better than, the printed fables in 
their books ; you want them to write such superior 
fables. And all that you have to do is to help 
them and guide them sympathetically, apprecia- 
tively, in their efforts. It will not now be neces- 
sary to beat into them with endless repetitions a 
few correct language forms and a few words for 
the enrichment of their vocabularies ; they are in a 



A STUDY OF FABLES 187 

position to appreciate the value of correct forms and 
of appropriate words ; they want to know what such 
forms and words are because they want to use 
them ; they want them for what they really are — 
they want them as means to an end in which they 
are interested. A single use of a language form or 
of a new word under such conditions is more effec- 
tive than scores of formal, uninteresting repetitions. 
Similarly, information that the pupil needs to use — 
and no little information is necessary to the writing 
of good fables — is grasped and assimilated through 
use most effectively. 

After you have helped your children sympatheti- 
cally to study the first lesson in their books, to which 
two periods may well be devoted, they should under- 
stand at least these three simple characteristics of 
fables, that usually they are short stories, that they 
are about animals, and that each teaches some lesson 
about conduct. It may be of interest to them to 
know the probable reason why fables are usually 
about animals. 

In the long ago when fables originated, men lived 
in much closer relations to the various beasts of 
forest and field than they do to-day ; they knew the 
beasts then — knew them as friends, enemies, rivals 
— ■ much more intimately than we do to-day. They 
were impressed with the peculiarities of the different 
beasts, the busyness of the bee, the slyness of the fox, 
the boldness of the lion, the timidity and fleetness of 



i88 TEACHER'S MANUAL 

the deer; they spoke of these peculiarities, exagger- 
ated them, and told stories illustrating them. These 
stories were the early fables. Later fables, based on 
the older ones, continued to use animals as their 
chief characters. 

The lessons of some fables are not easy to state. 
Hence the first ones chosen for study with the children 
should teach lessons not too difficult to formulate in 
words. The keenest insight and the most skillful 
work of the teacher is required at this point. She 
must help her pupils to see, to understand and to 
feel the lesson, and she must help them to express 
it effectively in good language. Such help does not 
consist in telling them what the lesson is ; if they 
cannot be led to grasp it without telling, they can 
hardly understand the telling of it. No more does 
such help consist in formulating the lesson for them 
in language. The skillful help demanded consists 
here — as almost everywhere else — in getting the 
pupil to do all he possibly can for himself and in 
doing the least that will suffice for him. He must 
think for himself — and think earnestly — what the 
lesson of a fable is, he must summon the best lan- 
guage at his command in his effort to express that 
lesson. When he has done this, he is in the best- 
possible condition to appreciate the bit of help that 
the teacher may give, to receive and make his own 
the word or turn of phrase that the teacher may 
suggest. 



THE FABLE ABOUT THE WISE BOAR 189 

You will note that the grasp of the lesson of a 
fable consists in seeing a general truth in a concrete 
embodiment — a mental process of some difficulty, 
but a process which is fundamental to growth in 
mental power, in capacity to think. Hence, in the 
study of fables as here suggested, the child is not 
merely learning words and the correct use of them 
in writing, he is not merely "making up " stories, an 
exercise that narrow, shortsighted, falsely self-styled 
" practical 5J people are inclined to disapprove, he is 
developing mental fiber and alertness, he is using and 
so strengthening his power to think, an exercise that 
too many pupils in all grades of schools — for reasons 
that cannot be here discussed — altogether miss. 

Most of the fables whose lessons the pupils are 
asked in their book to state have already been given 
and studied. Any that they may not have clearly 
in mind should be told, either by you or by pupils 
who are familiar with them. 

Supplementary Work 

Have pupils read fables numbered 1, 2, 3, 10, and 
11, in Chapter Twelve (p. 276), and try to tell the 
lesson that each one teaches. 

II (174). The Study of the Fable, "The Wise Boar" 

In this and similar study lessons the teacher 
should conduct the work in a way to enlist the 
active attention and effort of every child and to 



190 



TEACHER'S MANUAL 



accomplish the most possible in a given time. This 
means not merely efficiency in the study of a given 
lesson, but, what is more important, it means prac- 
tice in forming the habit in every pupil of concen- 
tration and efficient work. It is not usually consist- 
ent with efficient treatment of a study exercise like 
the one under discussion to allow one child to answer 
questions at length, for instance all questions on a 
topic. It is far better to have a large number of 
children answer a question each and in order. For 
example, the study of the second paragraph of the 
fable, The Wise Boar (p. 176), might well be some- 
thing like this. 

First Pupil : Reads paragraph. 

Second Pupil : Tells number of sentences in it. 

Third Pupil : Tells why A is a capital letter. 

Fourth Pupil : Tells why the comma is used. 

Fifth Pupil : Tells where and why quotation marks are used. 

Sixth Pupil : Tells why Why begins with a capital letter. 

Seventh Pupil : Tells where and why the question mark is used. 

Eighth Pupil: Tells why There begins with a capital letter. 

Ninth Pupil : Tells where and why the period is used. 

Here nine children take part in the recitation, 
and it should not consume more than two or three 
minutes. Not a moment should be wasted by the 
teacher in unnecessary talk or comment. If the 
pupils are allowed to recite in order, standing a row 
at a time, it will be quite unnecessary to call them 
by name and still more unnecessary to deliberate 
about who shall be called upon. 



TELLING ORIGINAL FABLES 191 

III (176). "Writing a Fable from Dictation 

Without further study dictate the fable, The Wise 
Boar. The purpose of this dictation is to fix the 
model form of a fable in preparation for the telling 
and writing of original fables which are called for in 
following lessons. 

In correcting their papers with the pupils — 
which should immediately follow the dictation — 
pay especial attention to the mechanical arrange- 
ment of their work. 

Keep pupils' papers until after Section V, then 
put the papers of the two lessons together. 

IV (176). Telling Original Fables 

See that the children understand what is ex- 
pected of them. Do not approve or even allow to 
pass a fable that does not teach the same lesson that 
the model fable teaches ; the offering of such a 
fable indicates that its author does not fully under- 
stand the model fable and what is expected of him. 

Encourage the children to model their fables as 
closely as they can on the type fable. Make the 
exercise alive ; see that every one is wide awake and 
thinking earnestly and quickly. As pupils are 
ready, have them tell their fables in rapid succes- 
sion ; a dozen may be told in a few minutes. Let 
each child, when he tells his fable, come to the front 
of the room, face the class, and speak distinctly and 
loud enough to be heard by all. 



IQ2 TEACHER'S MANUAL 

Keep the children's- fables brief; allow the use of 
no more words than are needed to tell the story. 
Stop at once all such verbose utterances as this: 
"Once upon a time there was a little boy. He was 
sharpening his skates. It was a rainy clay and he 
could not go skating." If the pupil reciting does 
not at once see the mistake he is making, refer him 
to the opening sentences of The Wise Boar and The 
Fisherman and His Nets. Let him study these 
carefully until he is able to put his three wordy sen- 
tences into one, about like this : " One rainy day a 
boy was sharpening his skates." 

V ( 1 79). "Writing" an Original Fable 

See that the pupils do exactly as directed in their 
book. 

There are many characteristics of a lesson like 
this which make it admirably adapted to fourth- 
grade pupils. The requirements are definite and 
easily understood. They have a model to lean upon 
and to imitate ; at the same time there is demand 
for a little originality, a little invention, and oppor- 
tunity for considerable. Thus, while the exercise is 
within the capacity of the slowest, most common- 
place mind, it invites the fullest use of the quickest 
and the most original thought. Finally, the exercise 
is brief, must be brief to be good, and so can be 
completed and corrected in a short time. 



SUPPLEMENTARY WORK 



193 



The correcting should be most conscientiously- 
done ; it is in the correcting that the pupil learns 
what he did not know before. See that each pupil 
does as directed before offering his fable to you for 
your judgment and assistance, that is, that he study 
it carefully by himself and make such improvements 
in it as he can. In your correcting of the fables with 
the children, direct attention not merely to the words 
and forms, but especially to the thought and the more 
general method of its expression. Is the thought 
clear and logical, and so expressed ? Does the fable 
teach the desired lesson clearly and pointedly ? Is 
every thought expressed wholly relevant ? Is it ex- 
pressed in the most concise, effective paragraphs, 
sentences, and words that the author can use ? 

In trying to get pupils to correct such defects as 
these questions suggest, it will do no good to talk 
to them in the abstract terms in which these ques- 
tions are expressed ; they cannot understand such 
language. Simply refer them to the type fables ; 
direct their attention to the characteristics of the 
type fables which their fables lack ; then they can 
understand, for you bring the matter to them in the 
concrete. 

Supplementary Work 

I. Pupils may write one or more additional fables 
teaching the same lesson as those already studied 
and written. Each one may take for his title one 
of the subjects given (p. 1 j8), or an original subject. 



194 TEACHER'S MANUAL 

Probably many pupils in the class, with a little en- 
couragement, will voluntarily write a considerable 
number of fables outside of school. 

2. With fable No. 10, Chapter Twelve, as a 
model, children may write original fables teaching 
the same lesson as that taught by The Wolf and 
the Goat. (See Manual, p. 267.) 

3. Let pupils write as many titles as they can on 
which they think fables might be written, teaching 
the same lesson as The Wise Boar teaches. 

VI (180). The Wise Judge: A Story to be Read and 

Studied 

Read the story through with the children. In 
the suggested conversation and discussion that is to 
follow, encourage the children to speculate freely, 
but intelligently, regarding the judge's acts and 
motives — a splendid opportunity for the exercise of 
intelligent imagination. Perhaps the judge was 
familiar with the goldsmith's shop, knew that the 
ceiling was low and covered with dust and cobwebs, 
and hence surmised that the thief would probably 
brush off some on his fez. Perhaps the judge had 
visited the shop during the day, had seen a place 
where the dust and cobwebs had been recently 
brushed away and guessed that it was done by the 
thief. Perhaps he suspected who the thief was and 
took this means of making sure. Possibly he even 
knew the thief all the time and acted and talked as 



DRAMATIZING "THE WISE JUDGE" 195 

he did merely to impress the people with his wis- 
dom. Perhaps he knew nothing about the thief, or 
dust and cobwebs ; perhaps no one had cobwebs on 
his fez ; perhaps the guilty one instinctively tried — 
as the shrewd judge hoped he would do — to remove 
from his fez the suggested evidence of his guilt. 
Perhaps — but the children, with encouragement 
and skillful suggestion, will offer an indefinite num- 
ber of possible explanations. 

See that the pupils understand what is meant by 
the word fez, then see that they use it freely in 
conversation and in dramatizing. 

Let children study alone the questions and sug- 
gestions in preparation for the dramatizing. But if 
you can give a few minutes to it just before the 
actual dramatizing, let different children tell what 
might be the words used by the thief, the judge, and 
the people in those places where these must be sup- 
plied by the pupil. 

VII (185). Dramatizing "The Wise Judge" 

Preliminary to the actual, free dramatizing of the 
story, read it through with the children, you or 
one of the pupils reading the narrative parts while 
pupils, as directed, read the conversational parts. 
As these pupils read, let them dramatize with 
books in their hands, moving from place to place as 
the action requires, making appropriate gestures 
and reading from their books. 



196 TFACHER'S MANUAL 

Let the pupils now choose the actors for the sev- 
eral parts and carry out the dramatization freely 
with as little help from you as possible. After their 
production has been discussed and improvements 
suggested, let other pupils dramatize the story again, 
trying to make the suggested improvements. 

Supplementary Work 
Let the story be reproduced orally. 

VIII (185). Study of a Fable in Dialogue Form 

Study this story with the children. Aim to 
secure from them concise, connected, relevant state- 
ments, each one advancing the story toward its 
climax and completion. This will make the whole 
story brief, as it should be. 

Use the word parenthesis, that is introduced into 
the pupils' book, freely as occasion requires, and see 
that the children use it. In this way they will 
quickly learn without formal lesson or definition 
what the parenthesis is and its use. See what is 
said about the use of the terms sentence (p. 47) and 
paragraph (p. 159). 

After the children have worked out and told the 
story under your guidance, tell it to them yourself, 
carefully observing the characteristics that you have 
been working for — conciseness, brevity, point. 
Your story may be something like this: 



WRITING A STORY FROM A DIALOGUE 197 

The Man and the Satyr 

One night a man who was lost in the woods found the cave of 
a satyr. 

" I am cold and hungry," he said. " May I rest here for the 
night?" 

" Come right in," said the satyr. " You are welcome." 

The man entered the cave. As his fingers were still numb 
with the cold, he blew upon them with his warm breath. 

" Why do you do that? " asked the satyr. 

" To warm my fingers," answered the man. 

Soon the satyr gave the man some broth. As the broth was 
very hot, the man took some up in his spoon and blew upon it. 

"Why do you do that?" asked the satyr. "Is the broth too 
cold?" 

" It is too hot and I am cooling it," replied the man. 

" Get out of my cave at once," cried the satyr. " I will have 
no man here who blows hot and cold with the same breath." 

So saying, he drove the man out into the night. 

Supplementary Work 

Let the children turn Exercise 7, Chapter Twelve, 
into narrative form (p. 265). 

IX (188). Writing a Story from a Dialogue 

As soon as children begin writing, pass from desk 
to desk and see that each one is doing as his book 
directs. Be particularly careful to see that they are 
stopping at the end of each sentence to ask them- 
selves the question that their book tells them to ask. 
This is most important. In asking themselves this 
question they are not only drilling themselves most 



198 TEACHER'S MANUAL 

effectively in the correct writing of quotations ; they 
are also learning to write consciously in sentences, 
getting the feeling for the sentence, the sentence 
sense. 

X (188). Picture Stories 

(The three doors, p. 189) 

Let the children study the lesson in their books 
and write the part under (i) before discussing the 
picture or story with them. Have their papers read 
and discussed. Which are best? (Those that are 
most convincing, most reasonable.) Talk over 
other ways of setting the princess free — ways that 
may be suggested by pupils' papers or that may 
have occurred to you. The following ideas may be 
suggestive. 

1. On the way to the doors the prince may have turned aside 
to spare some tiny insect, who, to repay him for his kindness, 
discovers the right room for him, either by creeping through 
keyholes or crevices of doors, or by calling to his relatives, the 
poisonous insects, to give him the information. 

2. The prince may open the door into the lion's den. The 
huge beast may spring toward him, — but stop to lick his feet. 
When only a cub, this lion was rescued by the prince, a kindness 
that he remembers. He gladly tells the prince which room the 
princess occupies. 

3. The prince may water the rose when all but withered, re- 
move a caterpillar that is destroying the blossoms, or drive away 
a fierce animal who is about to uproot the bush. In return the 
rose tells him which door to open. 

4. A fairy — one whom the prince has helped, or his fairy god- 
mother — may help him in any of the following ways: (a) by 



SUPPLEMENTARY WORK 199 

giving him a cloak that will make him invisible, so that if he opens 
the wrong door the inmates cannot harm him ; (^) by giving him 
a magic glass with which he can see through wood and stone ; 
(V) by giving him a musical instrument, the tones of which will 
cause a deep sleep to fall on all who hear it ; (d) by teaching him 
some magic word by which he can turn anything or anybody to 
stone ; (<?) by giving him a charm that will make every creature 
love him. 

Study questions under (2) with the children. 
Who shut the princess in the castle ? Why ? (An 
ogre who ruled in her father's place and wanted her 
out of the way ? A witch who had not been invited 
to the christening of the princess and sought to be 
revenged ? Her father who wanted to make sure 
she would marry a man who was brave and kind, 
for the prince who succeeded by his own powers 
must be brave, and only he who was kind and good 
could have the help, of the fairies ? A fairy, to 
punish the princess for her pride or unkindness to 
insects and beasts ?) 

Help the children to make a complete story. 

Supplementary "Work 

Have children write the princess's story. It might 
begin something like this: 

I am the princess Maydew. For many years I was shut up in 

a palace by . I was told that there I must stay until a prince 

opened the door and set me free. To make his task as hard as 
possible — (the three rooms with similar locks). 

(Vivid description of her feelings as prince after prince tried.) 

(The coming of the right prince.) 



200 TEACHER'S MANUAL 

XI (191). More Picture Stories 

(The chained prisoners, p. 192) 

Let the children think out the ideas for their 
stories alone by studying the picture and answering 
to themselves the questions under (i). When they 
have done this and before they write their stories, 
talk their ideas over with them, helping them to 
arrange them in good story form. Let this be done 
in such a way that each child will understand that 
it is his own ideas that he is to put into story form, 
not the ideas of other children. The success with 
which you handle this rather difficult matter will be 
shown in the variety and originality of the written 
stories. 

XII (193). A Poem to Read and Study 

Before taking up the study of this poem with the 
children, make yourself thoroughly familiar with the 
suggestions for its study given in the pupils' book. 
In preparation for reading the poem to the children, 
which should be the beginning of its study with 
them, practice reading it until you can bring out 
with your voice all the beauty and meaning of it. 
Suitably rendered, there is nothing in it difficult for 
children to understand and appreciate. 

If at the end of the study the children have not 
clear mental pictures of the various scenes described 
and suggested in the poem, if they are not filled 



MEMORIZING A POEM 201 

with the beauty and the rhythm of the poetry, then 
the study has not been a success. Find out why it 
failed ; you will certainly not find the cause of the 
failure in the incapacity or irresponsiveness of the 
children. 

XIII (198). Copying the Poem, "Little Blue Pigeon" 

Before having the poem copied go over it with 
the children, studying with them the use of each 
dash as their book directs. 

Pupils should be trained to be observant and 
critical, to notice and seek an explanation for every 
mark new to them. To satisfy this demand we 
give them this simple explanation of the use of the 
dash in this place. It is quite unnecessary and would 
be confusing to the children to try to teach them 
all the uses of the dash at this time. Other uses of 
the dash will be explained as their work calls for 
these uses. 

Pass from desk to desk to see if pupils are cor- 
recting their own work as their book directs. Make 
constant effort to get them into the habit of self- 
correction ; it is a most important habit for them to 
form. 

XIV (199). Memorizing the Poem, " Little Blue Pigeon " 

After the pupils have been given a few minutes 
in which to study the stanzas they may select to 
learn, call on them to recite their stanzas. Call for 



202 TEACHER'S MANUAL 

the stanzas in order. Who has learned the first 
stanza ? If no one has memorized this stanza, read 
it to the children. Call for each succeeding stanza, 
reading any that no one has memorized so as to 
keep the complete poem in the children's minds. 
Hearing the different stanzas recited or read re- 
peatedly, most of the children will soon be able, 
with little or no further conscious study, to repeat 
the whole poem. All should learn it entire, study- 
ing wherever and as much as necessary. (For 
further directions and suggestions regarding the 
memorizing of poetry, see pages 86 and 137.) 

Insist that the meaning and the beauty of the 
stanzas be brought out as fully as possible at every 
repetition ; there is no value in merely repeating 
the words. 

Keep all poems memorized fresh in pupils' minds 
by occasional repetition. In a few odd moments 
from time to time — moments which might other- 
wise be wasted — several pupils can repeat the 
poems that they like best. 



CHAPTER NINE 

Before taking up this chapter with the children 
study it thoroughly to appreciate the way in which 
all the main ideas of previous chapters are further 
developed, and the forms already learned are kept in 
constant review through use. 

The new work presented is as follows : 

1. Exclamations and the use of the exclamation mark. 

2. The use of the comma with a noun of direct address. 

3. The names of the months, their origin and meaning; 
learning to write them in full and abbreviated. 

4. The writing of dates. 

5. The writing of the names of holidays. 

I (200). "What Frightened the Animals." — The Use 
of the Exclamation Mark; the Use of the Comma 
with Noun of Direct Address 

First read the story with the children. Let it be 
read so well that the children can readily under- 
stand what is meant when their book tells them 
(p. 204) that "an exclamation mark is placed after 
every sentence expressing sudden strong feeling." 

The story contains two new forms of punctuation 
that must stand as types to the pupils: (1) the use 
of commas to separate the name of the person ad- 

203 



204 TEACHER'S MANUAL 

dressed from the rest of the sentence; (2) the use 
of the exclamation mark after a sentence that ex- 
presses strong or sudden feeling. See that pupils 
thoroughly master these type forms. 

Supplementary "Work 

Give pupils an exercise in looking through familiar 
selections in their reading books to find as many 
places as possible where the comma and the ex- 
clamation mark are used as in the type forms ex- 
plained in this lesson. Of course suitable selections 
must be assigned for this exercise. 

II (204). A Copying Exercise to Grive Practice in the 
Uses of the Exclamation Mark and the Comma 
Learned in the Last Lesson 

Work with the pupils and show them how to com- 
pare their copies with the original and how to correct 
their own mistakes. The habit of such comparison 
and correction is not only invaluable to the pupil, 
it will save you and all the pupil's future teachers an 
immense amount of unnecessary work and drudgery. 
This habit cannot be too early nor too firmly estab- 
lished. 

III (204). Studied Dictation to Give Further Practice 

in Uses of Exclamation Mark and Comma 

Allow pupils two or three minutes to look carefully 
through the 6th, 7th, 8th, 9th, 10th, and nth para- 
graphs of the story, What Frightened the Animals, 



STUDIED DICTATION 205 

See that they understand clearly why they are look- 
ing over these paragraphs — that they may be able 
to write them correctly in all respects, particularly 
in the use of the exclamation- mark and the new use 
of the comma that they have been studying in the 
last two lessons. 

Dictate these paragraphs, — by complete sentences 
only. (See p. 145.) 

Be careful about the correction of the pupils' 
papers ; this is the most important part of the ex- 
ercise. If a pupil has omitted a comma to separate 
the name of the pe'rson addressed from the rest of 
the sentence, question and direct as follows : 

Who is speaking? 
To whom? 

Show me the name of the person addressed. 
How should the name of the person addressed be separated 
from the rest of the sentence ? 
Do it! 

If a pupil has omitted the exclamation mark, read 
the quotation which precedes the omitted mark, 
showing distinctly by your voice what feeling is 
expressed, then ask and direct : 

What sudden strong feeling does the animal show? 
(Pupil's answer : /ear.) 

What mark is used after a sentence that shows sudden strong 
feeling, like fear? 

(Pupil's answer : An exc/amation mark.) 
Make it ! 



2 o6 TEACHER'S MANUAL 

IV (204). Unstudied Dictation to Test Use of Excla- 
mation Mark and Comma 

" Grandmother, what long arms you have ! " cried the little girl. 
"The better to hug you, my dear," said the wolf. 
" Grandmother, what long ears you have ! " 
"The better to hear you, my dear." 

Dictate the above extract from Little Red Riding 
Hood, first reminding the children of the main events 
of the story that precede this dictation. In dictat- 
ing, make your voice and expression consistent with 
the use of the exclamation mark. If you merely 
dictate the words of Little Red Riding Hood, with- 
out feeling, the pupil is right if he uses a comma to 
separate the quotation from the rest of the sentence, 
and you are wrong if you consider this an error. 

Before dictating, call to the pupils' minds the two 
points which the dictation is primarily to test, some- 
thing as follows. Read the quotation in the first 
sentence of the dictation with appropriate expression 
and ask and have answered the following questions: 

What feeling does this sentence express? 

What mark must be placed after it? 

Who is addressed? 

What mark must be used with the name of the person addressed? 

Where is this mark to be placed in this sentence ? 

If you think necessary, talk over every sentence of 
the dictation in this way before it is given. Antici- 
pate errors. 



UNSTUDIED DICTATION 207 

If the results of this dictation indicate that the 
pupils need further drill on the uses of the exclama- 
tion mark and the comma, write on the board the 
extract dictated, together with the remainder of the 
conversation between the wolf and Little Red Riding 
Hood, and have the children study each sentence 
aloud as they did in the first lesson of this chapter. 

The remainder of the conversation is as follows: 

" Grandmother, what great eyes you have ! " 
"The better to see you, my dear." 
" Grandmother, what big teeth you have ! " 
" The better to eat you, my dear." 

In their reading of the sentences, as in your dicta- 
tion of them, the pupils should be required to read 
those followed by an exclamation mark in a way to 
justify that mark, even though they are reading but 
the single sentence. . Failure so to read an exclama- 
tory sentence is failure to read the sentence correctly 
just as much as would be the omission or the mis- 
calling of words. Just as a word correctly and 
thoughtfully pronounced is half spelled, so a sentence 
correctly and thoughtfully spoken is half written. 

After the study dictate the complete extract writ- 
ten on the board. 

Correct papers with the pupils, leading each one to 
discover his own errors and requiring each one to 
tell what he should have written and to make the 
necessary corrections. Conduct the correcting ex- 
ercise as directed in the last lesson. 



208 TEACHER'S MANUAL 

Supplementary Work 

Exercises 1 1 and 12, Chapter Twelve, may be used 
in studied dictation to test the use of the comma with 
a noun of direct address. 

V (205). The Months and Their Abbreviations 

The pupils should need little or no help in the 
study of this lesson. After they have had time to 
prepare it, have them write from dictation the names 
of the months and their abbreviations. Preceding 
the dictation, question them regarding the way these 
are to be written ; that is, the use of capitals and 
period. It would be well also to have some of the 
more difficult names, such as February and August, 
spelled orally. In dictating pronounce each name 
very distinctly and have pupils pronounce it after 
you before writing. 

VI (206). Writing the Names of Holidays 

Before the pupils write the sentences as they are 
required to do, go over the lesson with them orally, 
calling for sentences which tell the month in which 
each holiday falls. Get as much variety as possible 
in these sentences. Following are several different 
and natural forms. 

The first of January is New Year's Day. 
Lincoln's Birthday comes in February. 
Washington's Birthday is also a February holiday. 
Labor Day comes early in September. 
Christmas comes late in December. 



WRITING DATES 209 

Variety in the oral sentences will prepare pupils 
for writing varied sentences, which they should be 
encouraged to do. Do not allow the abbreviations 
of the names of the months in these sentences. Be- 
fore they write, direct attention to the apostrophe in 
the names of three of the holidays and ask why it is 
used. 

As always, the correction with the pupils of their 
written work must be carefully done. Any errors in 
writing the names of the holidays or of the months 
the pupils should discover for themselves by compar- 
ing their work with these names as they are given 
in this and in the preceding lesson of their book. 

VII (206). Writing Dates 

Study the lesson with the children in preparation 
for their copying of the dates as directed. Help 
them to answer the question asked about the dates 
1732, 1775, and 1776. See that they notice the 
period after each complete date. If no question is 
raised, it will not be necessary to make any explana- 
tion of this, simply requiring that it be copied cor- 
rectly. Should there be now or in the later writing 
of dates any indication that pupils think a period 
belongs after the year of every date, it should be 
explained that in dates written as these are, or in 
the date at the beginning of a letter, each date is 
really a sentence and is followed by a period simply 
on that account. 



2io TEACHER'S MANUAL 

The names of the months are given in full in the 
pupils' book, and they should be required to copy 
them in full rather than to write the abbreviations. 
This will fix the spelling, and it will prepare them 
for the next use of dates that their work will re- 
quire ; namely, in the writing of friendly letters, in 
which the full name of the month is better form than 
the abbreviation. In the dating of papers in all 
school work have pupils use the abbreviations of the 
months, and see that they write them correctly. 

Supplementary Work 

i. Have several dates written from dictation. 
2. Dictate easy sentences containing dates. 

VIII (207). My Birthday: Original Written Com- 
position 

This is the first time that purely original com- 
position work has been required. While such work 
might have been done much earlier, and probably 
with a fair degree of success by most pupils, it has 
been deferred until this time for the purpose of al- 
lowing time and practice to fix as habits some of the 
most common conventional forms before requiring 
the pupil to do work in which he should be free to 
devote his attention and thought mainly to the con- 
tent rather than the form. 

This exercise will prepare pupils somewhat for 
the writing of friendly letters, a subject which will 
soon be taken up. 



ORIGINAL WRITTEN COMPOSITION 211 

Have no class discussion of the exercise — this 
will tend to produce sameness and monotony rather 
than originality and variety in the pupils' work — 
but go from desk to desk, as pupils think and write, 
and help individually by questions and suggestions 
adapted to each one. The chief thing to impress 
upon each one is that he write something that will 
be really interesting 

Perhaps some children will have great difficulty 
in making a beginning. Such might be questioned 
somewhat as follows : 

When is your birthday? 

What would you like best to do at that time? 

(The season will determine many things that can be done to 
best advantage.) 

Is there any place you would like to visit? 

Whom would you like to go with you? 

What would you do there? 

What would you like for birthday presents? 

If you had some money given you for a birthday present, how 
would you spend it? 

Would you like to have a birthday party? Where would you 
like to hold it ? Whom would you invite ? What would you do 
to entertain your guests ? 

Such questions as these and many others that 
will suggest themselves cannot fail to start any 
child thinking. But perhaps this will not always 
be sufficient; perhaps with the mind full of inter- 
esting things to write, some children's difficulty may 
consist in the actual putting on paper of the first 



212 TEACHER'S MANUAL 

sentences. Do not hesitate to give such just the 
help and all the help they need. This is much 
better than scolding or prodding or leaving them to 
flounder helpless and discouraged and finally mark- 
ing their exercise a failure. A failure under such 
conditions should be charged up to the teacher 
rather than to the pupil. 

Helping a pupil in the condition described to 
make a beginning will often suffice to turn an im- 
minent failure into a decided success. Perhaps the 
beginning needed is as simple as this: 

My birthday comes on March 16. If I could do just as I 
would like on that day, I would — 

IX (208). How the Months Were Named: a Study and 

Writing Exercise 

This is a lesson for you to talk over with the 
pupils, explain to them, and make as interesting as 
possible. It is not at all necessary that pupils 
commit to memory by formal study the sources of 
the months' names nor the Indians' way of des- 
ignating months or "moons." The lesson will 
serve to build up about the names of the months 
interesting associations, which the pupil may use 
in speech or writing on occasion. Should he forget 
some of the facts here given him, he will know 
where to turn for them. 



MEMORIZING QUOTATIONS 213 

X (210). A Written Exercise on the Months 

The written work required of pupils should be 
discussed and corrected with them individually, so 
far as possible while they write. 

XI (210). Study of Quotations about the Months 

The quotations given for the different months 
have been selected with great care. Each one is 
especially appropriate; it not only expresses the 
most characteristic associations of the month to 
which it refers, but it awakens as well intimate 
feelings to which that month's experiences have 
given birth. To realize the full worth of these 
selections they must be read — read intimately, 
deeply, sympathetically, expressively, effectively. 

Read them over and over with the children, try- 
ing with each reading to bring out more and more 
of the meaning. As an aid to the reading, study 
the selections as the questions in the pupils' book 
suggest. Several lesson periods may be profitably 
devoted to this chapter. 

XII (217). Memorizing Quotations 

Before the pupils begin studying the quotations 
to memorize them, find out which one each has 
chosen to memorize. See that every quotation is 
taken by at least one pupil. Have each pupil read 
his chosen quotation aloud to you, so that you can 



214 TEACHER'S MANUAL 

determine whether he fully appreciates its meaning 
and feeling. Read it to him if necessary. 

Keep these quotations in review by calling for a 
repetition of them from time to time. Call for them 
by months, having some pupil respond who has 
learned the quotation for the month called. If the 
quotations are well rendered at each exercise of this 
kind, in a surprisingly short time you will find that 
most of the pupils can repeat most of the quotations. 
They may vie with each other in the number they 
can repeat. 

It will be worth while to have each pupil write 
from memory one or more of these quotations each 
month. Keep each child's papers together and 
toward the end of the year or term let him make 
them into a booklet. He might illustrate each 
poem and decorate the booklet cover. 

XIII (218). Picture Stories 

(Dead fawn picture, p. 219) 

Some children in one class worked with enthusi- 
asm for several weeks on stories growing out of this 
picture. According to their conceptions, the pet 
fawn belongs to the little princess. One day she 
and her brother find the fawn dead. From the 
mark on the arrow, they know that the king's 
huntsman has killed the fawn. The huntsman is 
brought before the king and confesses that he killed 
the fawn, thinking it a wild one. The king gives 



MORE PICTURE STORIES 215 

him one year in which to search the world and find 
a fawn, exactly like the one killed — the same age, 
size, color, with the same number of spots placed 
in the same way — in everything exactly like. If 
within that time the huntsman returns with such 
a fawn, he will be pardoned ; if he fails, he shall no 
longer be the king's huntsman. 

The children wrote on The Quest for the Fawn> 
relating the huntsman's adventures, etc. 

Here are other suggestions that may be helpful. 

1. The castle is besieged by an army on the farther side; the 
defenders within are starving ; the boy kills the deer ; he and his 
sister manage to get it to the starving ones in the castle, among 
whom is the children's father, and so save their lives. 

2. The boy kills his sister's fawn by accident; he is moved 
by the sufferings of the dying creature ; he throws away his bow 
and arrows (he no longer carries them in the picture) and 
promises never again to harm an innocent creature. 

3. Fawn shot by hunters escapes and falls wounded near 
children's home ; children care for it, restore it, and keep it as 
a pet. 

XIV (220). More Picture Stories 

(Girl in wood surrounded by animals, p. 221 ) 

The different names given to the picture in the 
children's book suggest different stories. Encour- 
age the children to think of other suitable names. 
Write their suggestions on the blackboard. Then 
let each one select a title either from the list on the 
board or from that in the book and write a story 
appropriate to the title. 



216 TEACHER'S MANUAL 

Supplementary "Work 

Let the children imagine themselves any one of the 
characters in the picture — the maiden, the youth, 
the wolf, the deer, etc. — and write a story as that 
character might tell it. The marked and contrast- 
ing characteristics of the animals — the savageness 
of the wolf, the timidity of the deer and hare, the 
sauciness of the squirrel — and the common effect on 
these of the maiden's kindness must be appreciated. 
This appreciation will give variety to the stories as 
told from the different standpoints of the various 
characters. 

Before the children are asked to write, the natural 
characteristics of the several animals should be dis- 
cussed with them in some detail. Then each one 
should be allowed to choose the character that he 
will be, and to write his story. 

XV (220). Review of the Uses of Capitals and 
Punctuation Marks 

After the pupils have studied the lesson alone, 
test them by asking them to read aloud certain 
sentences and to give the reasons for the use of 
capitals and marks of punctuation. 

XVI (223). Studied Dictation 

Have children write from dictation Part I of the 
story, A Queer Catch, first taking such precautions 



SUPPLEMENTARY WORK 217 

as may seem necessary to help them avoid the mak- 
ing of errors. (See p. 206.) 

Correct the papers carefully with the children, as 
suggested in past exercises. Keep the papers until 
after the next lesson, then put together the two papers 
of each pupil. 

XVII (223). Writing the Ending of a Story 

As the children write, help any who need assist- 
ance by asking suggestive questions. Be careful to 
influence none who are able to work alone. 

Supplementary "Work 

Let the children make complete stories based on 
Exercise 8, Chapter Twelve, as suggested in this 
Manual (p. 266). 



CHAPTER TEN 

In addition to the continuation and development of all 
important kinds of exercises previously taken up, this 
chapter treats, in a concrete way that children understand, 
the general use of marks of punctuation ; studies and 
practices the use of the contractions don't and doesn't ; and 
gives exercises and instructions intended to eliminate the 
use of ain't. 

Before taking up the chapter with the children, 
study its contents carefully, both in the children's 
book and in this Manual, and compare with preced- 
ing work so as to see just what advance is here 
made. 

I (224). "For the King" 

Help the children to read themselves into the 
very heart and spirit of the story. See and feel 
yourself, as though you were a part of it, that scene 
in the little Scottish cottage. Feel with those two 
brave boys, as they prepare their arms, hoping to 
conceal from their mother their real purpose, but 
too honest and obedient positively to deceive her; 
become that mother for a moment, the personifica- 
tion of patriotism, courage, and self-sacrifice; enter 
the cottage with the homeless, wandering, hunted 
king, and feel with him the rebound of limitless 

218 



STUDYING THE STORY 219 

courage as he experiences the perfect loyalty of the 
mother and her sons. 

If you can live the scene that this story describes 
so vividly, you will have no difficulty with the chil- 
dren. Whether you read it to them or with them, 
or whether they read it to you, they will catch the 
spirit. That is the purpose of the reading. Fail- 
ing in this, the story is not read. Succeeding in 
this, the dramatization of it, which is called for 
later, will be spontaneous. 

II (227). Studying the Story 

If the story has been really read, which was the 
purpose of the last lesson, the children will now 
study it with enthusiasm, with keen appreciation 
of the meaning of questions and suggestions given 
in their book to direct their preparation for the 
dramatizing. Give them some time to study by 
themselves ; observe them individually to determine 
who really are studying sympathetically and who, 
if any, only perfunctorily. Help them, particularly 
those most in need of help, by calling on them to 
answer some of the questions aloud and to show 
how some of the characters spoke and acted, as 
suggested in the pupils' book. 

Let each child tell the part he would like to take. 
Write on the blackboard the names of the several 
characters and opposite each the names of the 
children who want to take that part. 



220 TEACHER'S MANUAL 

Discuss tactfully with the children the fitness of 
the assignments. This will help them to appre- 
ciate the requirements of the different parts. 

Ill (230). Dramatizing the Story- 
Let the children determine largely the assignment 
of parts for dramatizing, but see to it that the less 
capable ones have their fair share of opportunity. 
Seldom make up an "all star" cast. For the first 
dramatization, usually give the leading roles to the 
more capable children, the minor roles to the less 
capable, the diffident. But do not hesitate, in sub- 
sequent dramatizations of the same story, to assign 
less capable children to leading parts ; this may be 
just what they need to bring out unsuspected talent 
or to overcome their self-consciousness. Let each 
child try the part that he thinks himself he can take 
best. 

All the stories dramatized from the beginning 
should be repeated from time to time, always with 
different or partially different casts, so that every 
child may at some time have a part in every drama- 
tization. See to it that no child always, or nearly 
always, takes part in the same dramatization. If 
for any reason — as the small number in the class — 
the same children must frequently take part in the 
same play, change the assignment of parts. 

This constant change of actors and parts helps to 
make each dramatization spontaneous, original. A 



WHY MARKS OF PUNCTUATION ARE USED 221 

routine, mechanical dramatization, with " finished " 
acting and conversation, no matter how good it may 
be from the dramatic standpoint, is just what is not 
wanted. 

Occasionally, instead of the complete dramatiza- 
tion of a story, have the story read expressively by 
the several characters, each one reading only the 
conversation of his part. 

IV (230). Oral Reproduction of the Story 

The results of the reading, study, and dramatizing 
of the story should show in the reproduction of it. 
See that the children tell it vividly and with feeling. 
The action is straightforward ; the children's render- 
ing should be the same. 

V (231). Why Marks of Punctuation Are Used 

This lesson is designed to make clear and 
emphatic the idea that every mark of punctuation 
has a definite purpose, that it must be both used 
and interpreted thoughtfully. Carelessness in the 
use of punctuation marks, or their omission alto- 
gether, may do just as much harm as carelessness in 
the use of words — or even the omission of words. 
Punctuation marks are a part of written or printed 
language. They, together with letters and words, 
are the means we use in expressing thoughts on 
paper. They must not be omitted where needed, 
nor must they be placed where not needed. 



222 TEACHER'S MANUAL 

This is the simple idea that every child must get 
and assimilate. Two people must use marks of 
punctuatio7t correctly, the writer and the reader. I 
am always the one or the other of these people. As 
a writer, I must tcse marks of punctuation so that 
any reader can understand just what I mean. As 
a reader, I must heed marks of punctuation so that 
I can understand j list what the writer means. 

This idea every child should get from this lesson. 
The full assimilation of it, until it becomes a habit, 
will depend upon the consistency of its observance, 
both in writing and in reading. And its observance, 
with most children, will depend upon the teacher. 
It requires patience, unremitting vigilance through 
several years, but the results are just as sure as are 
the results of spasmodic attention, carelessness, and 
indifference. With patience and vigilance in this 
matter, from the beginning, every pupil will complete 
the elementary school course habitually thoughtful 
in the use and observance, as writer and reader, of 
marks of punctuation ; without such patience and 
vigilance on the part of the teacher — every teacher 
— only the opposite result can be expected. 

Do not make the mistake of thinking that the 
result scarcely justifies the effort. There is no 
better means of training in accurate thinking than 
that afforded by the process of acquiring the habit 
of using and observing marks of punctuation cor- 
rectly; this demands the constant exercise of dis- 



SUPPLEMENTARY WORK 223 

criminating thought. So, in acquiring this habit, 
children are doing much more than at first appears ; 
they are learning to think definitely. Here is the 
secret of the difficulty with punctuation — for adults 
hardly less than for children ; punctuation depends 
upon thought — definite, discriminating thought. 
Carelessness in the use and observance of punctua- 
tion marks is almost conclusive evidence of careless- 
ness and indefiniteness in thinking. 

Supplementary "Work 

i. Dictate without study the following sentences: 

"Will," asked Bob, " is this your hat?" 
Will asked, " Bob, is this your hat?" 
Will asked Bob, " Is this your hat ? " 

Have a child write these sentences on the black- 
board as you dictate. Children at their seats will 
criticize ; corrections should be made at once. 

Be careful that your dictation demands the punc- 
tuation that you expect. If the children have dif- 
ficulty in determining the punctuation, or if they 
punctuate incorrectly, do not tell them, but make 
them think for themselves what it should be. You 
can do this by repetition, exaggeration, and contrast. 
Similarly, make them see the errors in an incorrectly 
punctuated sentence by reading, or having them 
read, the sentence just as punctuated, and comparing 
that with the reading originally given. 



224 



TEACHER'S MANUAL 



2. Dictate similar sentences to be written on 
paper. Correct them individually. Let each child 
read to you just what he has written; whether he 
has written according to dictation or not, his render- 
ing should agree with his writing. 

VI (233). A Fable to Study and Copy 

This lesson is to be studied by the children alone 
— without preceding class exercise. Before they 
begin, make sure that they understand what they are 
to do: (1) to read the fable carefully ; (2) to study 
what follows ; (3) to copy the fable as directed. 

While they are copying, go from desk to desk, 
making sure that they are copying accurately. 
From time to time ask a question, as, " Why have 
you used a comma here?" to assure yourself that 
the pupils are working intelligently. Especially 
question them about the new point, the writing of 
the contraction dorit. 

Exclamatory sentences and contractions will re- 
ceive more attention later. 

VII (234). Writing- a Fable from Dictation 

Dictate the fable, The Fox and the Grapes. 
Have pupils correct their own mistakes individually 
under your direction. 

As this fable is to be used as a model on which 
children will base original fables, they must learn 
the form of it thoroughly. 



TELLING ORIGINAL FABLES 225 

VIII (234). Telling Original Fables 

Study this lesson with the pupils. Make sure 
that they fully understand the nature of the out- 
lines, their relation to the stories based upon them. 
The first outline — that analyzed out of the fable, 
The Fox and the Grapes — is general ; it may 
serve as the basis of many fables entirely differ- 
ent in their character and details. The second 
and third outlines are like the first, really based 
on it, only they are specific, each one the basis 
of a single story, which may be varied, indeed, 
in its minor details, but which must concern the 
actors named. 

In working out the first original fable with the 
children, that of the Girl and the Rose, do not let 
them be satisfied with the one version given, as a 
suggestion of form, in their book, but encourage 
originality and variety in every one of the four 
parts, especially in the last three. For examples : 
How did the girl try to get the rose and fail ? 
(She jumped and jumped ; she tried to pull down 
the bush and scratched her hands ; she climbed on 
the w r all and fell.) What disagreeable thing did 
she say about the rose ? (" It isn't fragrant ; " " it 
is withered;" "it has too many thorns ; " "I don't 
like red (or white, or yellow) roses anyway ; " " it's 
too small ; " "I didn't really want it.") 

Allow the children a few minutes to think out a 



226 TEACHER'S MANUAL 

fable, each one for himself, choosing any of the 
titles given in their book. Then have several tell 
their fables to the class. Insist on their following 
the outline, making just four parts of each fable, 
each part definite and to the point. Discourage 
random, irrelevant talking. Insist on brevity, point, 
fluency, and good expression. Every fable must 
teach the same moral — " sour grapes." 

Supplementary Work 

i. Have pupils make lists of titles for fables that 
may be made to teach the same lesson as that of 
the Fox and the Grapes. This may be a class 
exercise in which the titles, as determined upon, 
may be written on the blackboard ; or it may be an 
individual exercise, each pupil writing his own 
titles on paper. 

2. Fables may be made and told from any of 
these titles, as in the regular lesson. 

IX (236). Writing Original Fables 

If the oral work of previous lessons has been well 
done, the children should have no difficulty in writ- 
ing good original fables. Before they begin, it will 
be well to make sure by a few questions that every 
one has in mind the several indispensable character- 
istics which his fable must have ; namely, four parts 
like the fable of the Fox and the Grapes, brevity and 
directness, and a moral. Of course it must also be 



CONTRACTIONS, DON'T, DOESN'T 227 

correctly written in respect to spelling, punctuation, 
the use of capitals, and a paragraph for each part. 

Go from pupil to pupil as they write to see that 
each one is succeeding. A question or suggestion 
will help a pupil to avoid an error or to correct it at 
once. Some children will need a little sympathetic 
help. Let the child who is unable to begin tell you 
the first part of the fable that he is to write ; then 
he will probably have no further trouble. Every 
pupil should be helped to correct his own work — 
not merely its form, but its content. 

Supplementary "Work 

Let children write original fables teaching the 
lessons taught by fables 1 and 2, Chapter Twelve. 

X (237). Contractions, Don't, Doesn't 

Only contractions that are commonly misused by 
children are made the objects of intensive study in 
regular lessons. The lesson should be but the be- 
ginning of a determined effort to establish right 
habits of usage. In the lesson the child learns what 
is right, why it is right, and how to tell what is 
right. If he can be made to apply this knowledge 
patiently to his speech and writing, he will soon 
form the correct habit. 

As an aid to the children in forming the habit of 
using dojit and doesiit correctly, it would be well to 
keep before them on the blackboard the lists of 



228 TEACHER'S MANUAL 

sentences in their book in which these words are 
correctly used. Pupils especially prone to misuse 
these words will do well to make individual copies 
of these sentences on cards and refer to them 
frequently. 

Require each child to correct his own mistakes 
in filling the blanks in The Family Vacation. 
To do this, he has only to follow carefully the direc- 
tions that his book clearly gives for the use of the 
words dorit and doesn't. Additional exercises simi- 
lar to this can easily be prepared if desired. 

XI (238). A Contraction that is Always Wrong", Ain't 

Owing to the widely prevalent use of this word 
by children in speech, and, hardly less commonly, in 
writing, a special lesson on the matter is advisable. 
This lesson is not given with the thought that a 
single lesson will break the habit in a single child ; 
it should rather be considered the first step in a de- 
termined effort which is to endure until the habit is 
broken, until correct forms are used habitually, with- 
out thought, in place of this incorrect form. 

The lesson should serve to make perfectly plain 
to every child that aint is wrong and must not be 
used, that it is not needed, as there are other con- 
tractions to fit every place in which any one would 
think of using aint. More than this — and more 
important — the lesson should be made to arouse a 
strong sentiment against the use of the word and in 



THE EXCLAMATION MARK 229 

favor of using correct forms ; if this can be done, it 
will need only following up to replace the wrong 
habit with correct ones. 

As suggested in the last lesson concerning doiit 
and doesnt it will help to have the correct forms, as 
given in the pupils' book (p. 239), on the board where 
reference can be made to them as necessary. It will 
also help some pupils to have their individual copies. 

If your children are unfortunately afflicted with 
the hairit as well as the ain't habit, — perhaps using 
hain't interchangeably with ain't, or as a contraction 
of have not and has not, — try to eradicate both hab- 
its at once and by similar methods. 

XII (240). The Exclamation Mark 

After the pupils have studied the lesson by them- 
selves, have them read appropriately The Circus 
Parade and tell why each exclamation mark is used, 
like this: "There is an exclamation mark after 
Here it comes because these words express strong 
feeling — Harry's excitement; there is an exclama- 
tion mark after What funny little monkeys because 
these words express a strong or sudden feeling — 
Will's interest and amusement." 

Insist that pupils read these expressions in a way 
to call for exclamation marks. Show them that 
they are not really reading what Harry, Tom, and 
the other boys said unless they read as the exclama- 
tion marks direct. 



230 TEACHER'S MANUAL 

Following this exercise, dictate The Circus Parade. 
Do not fail to exemplify your own teaching. So 
dictate that the thoughtful pupil can hardly fail to 
place exclamation marks where they belong. If you 
fail to exclaim in dictating, pupils ought not to use 
exclamation marks in writing from your dictation. 

Have pupils correct their papers at once under 
your direction. Particular attention is to be paid, 
of course, to the use of the exclamation mark ; but 
any errors in the use of other marks or of capitals or 
spelling should also be corrected. 

XIII (242). "Writing Exclamations 

As a result of the last lesson, the pupils should 
be able to write the exclamations of the people 
without aid, but it would be well to talk with them 
about the orders that officers give their men, before 
they attempt to write these. Let the children give 
such orders as they have heard or know. A few of 
these might be written on the board, as : Halt ! 
Mark time, march ! Forward, march ! 

Pupils' papers should be corrected at once. 

XIV (242). Picture Stories 

Take a lesson period to interest the children in 
one of the books mentioned in their book ; read or 
tell them interesting extracts ; encourage them to 
read the book. 

The picture stories may be written as adventures 



"THE DUMB SOLDIER" 231 

or merely as dreams. A story from the first picture 
might follow an outline something like this : 

Boy at seashore has been in swimming, rests for a while on 
warm sand, thinks of fish who swim so much better than he, wishes 
he could swim like a fish, wonders how they live, longs to see ; 
fish calls, " Swim out to me and I will show you the wonders of 
the deep ; " boy's experiences with the fish ; wakes up on beach. 

Following are suggestions of two stories that 
might be made from the second picture : 

1. Boy wakened very early in the morning by the screams 
of sea gulls, runs out on beach, watches gulls fly, thinks of all the 
strange places they see, wishes he were a sea gull, one gull invites 
the boy to go with him, his experiences, finally while crossing 
water gull shakes him off. Oh, how cold the water is ! Boy wakes 
up to find the tide has come up and wet him. 

2. Boy finds wounded gull on beach, cares for it, it is a fairy 
gull, every night after boy is in bed gull taps at window, boy 
opens window and seats himself on gull's back — gull has power 
to make himself big — and away they journey till the morning 
dawns. 

XV (244). "The Dumb Soldier" 

Read and discuss the poem with the children. 
A few words and expressions will probably need 
explanation. But the chief purpose of the reading 
and discussion should be to arouse the children's 
imaginations and sympathies, so that they will see 
and hear and feel with the little boy and with his 
soldier that he hides in the ground. 

Following are the words and expressions most 
likely to need explanation and illustration. Are 
there others that your children may not understand ? 



232 TEACHER'S MANUAL 

Second stanza : First line, apace; try to have children see 
the beauty of the picture of grasses growing and spreading so 
rapidly {apace) that they quickly run over the lawn like a green 
sea, covering the soldier's hiding place and rising like a wave to 
the boy's knee. 

Third stanza : Probably the soldier was of lead, hence the 
leaden eyes ; leaden may also refer to the color and the expression, 
or lack of expression, or feeling. Scarlet coat and poi7ited gun 
marks him a British foot soldier. 

Fourth stanza : When the grass is ripe, ready to cut, the scythe 
sharpened {stoned) and the lawn mown close, then the hole, the 
soldier's hiding place, will be uncovered, so that it can be easily 
found. 

The last five stanzas make especial appeal to the imagination 
and the feelings. The little boy had hidden his soldier in the 
ground not through cruelty or lack of feeling, but that the soldier 
might have the delightful experiences that the boy would fain 
have enjoyed himself. Doubtless the thought of his soldier in the 
ground stimulated the wonderful imagination of the boy so that he 
could almost feel that he was enjoying the soldier's experiences. 
Perhaps he often thought or said to himself, " Now my soldier is 
seeing this; now he is hearing that." 

He is fully confident that he shall find his soldier again quite 
safe, after "all that's gone and come." When he finds him, will 
he pity the poor soldier because he has had to lie alone in a hole 
in the ground all the spring and summer? Not a bit of it. He'll 
envy him because he has lived just as the boy would have lived, 
has done just as the boy would have done, if he could (sixth 
stanza) ; he'll envy him because he has seen (seventh stanza) and 
heard (eighth stanza) what the boy so much wanted to see and hear. 

Read to the children two other poems by Steven- 
son, Bed in Summer, and The Laud of Storybooks. 
In these poems he expresses similar intense delight 



"THE DUMB SOLDIER" 233 

in living close to the life of nature and in the en- 
chanted realms of the imagination ; he also gives 
expression to similar grief when he is deprived of 
these opportunities. 

And does it not seem hard to you, 
When all the sky is clear and blue, 
And I should like so much to play, 
To have to go to bed by day ? 

— Last stanza of Bed in Summer. 

So, when my nurse comes in for me, 
Home I return across the sea, 
And go to bed with backward looks 
At my dear Land of Storybooks. 

— Last stanza of The Land of Storybooks. 

Study with the pupils the questions in their book. 
Let them talk of the "fairy things." Were they 
real fairies ? Did they dance by the light of the 
stars? Did they climb the blades of grass and 
slide down them ? Did they touch the soldier and 
make him live and play with them ? When the sun 
came, did they fly back to fairyland ? 

Or were the "fairy things " little insects that lived 
in the grass and crawled about and over the dumb 
soldier ? 

Of what were the bee and the ladybird talking ? 
Did the bee say: 

" Ladybird, ladybird, fly away home ; 

Your house is on fire, your children will burn " ? 



234 



TEACHER'S MANUAL 



What answer did ladybird make ? Or were the 
bee, the ladybird, and the butterfly going to the fairy 
ball ? Or did the bee tell the others of all the honey 
he had gathered and stored away for the winter, and 
did he tell them to stop playing and go to work, 
too? 

After the children have talked freely over all such 
possibilities as those above suggested help them to 
tell the soldier's story. 

XVI (248). "The Lost Doll" 

Read this poem with the children and help them 
to compare it with The Dumb Soldier. 

How did the doll's experiences compare with 
those of the soldier ? 

How did the feelings of the girl, as she thought 
of her doll out on the heath, compare with the feel- 
ings of the boy as he thought of his soldier in the 
ground ? 

How did the feelings of the girl as she found her 
doll compare with those of the boy when he found 
his soldier? 

Let the children speculate on the terrible ex- 
periences of the poor lost doll as she lay helpless 
on the heath, the cows trampling over and mangling 
her, and the rain beating down on her and washing 
away her paint and her curls. Let the girls tell the 
doll's story, how she was lost, what happened to her, 
and how she was found. 



WRITING TRUE STORIES 235 

XVII (249). Writing the Stories of the Dumb Soldier 

and the Lost Doll 

As suggested in previous exercises in writing 
original stories, help the children as they write. 
Let them correct any errors at once. 

Supplementary Work 

Let pupils write stories based (1) on Exercise 6, 
Chapter Twelve, as suggested in the Manual, p. 265, 
(4); and (2) on Exercise 11, same chapter, as sug- 
gested in the Manual, p. 268, (2). 

XVIII (250). Writing True Stories 

Do not discuss these topics with the children as 
a class before they write ; that would tend to destroy 
the originality and individuality of their papers. 
Encourage each one to write his own story, which 
he may read to the class if it is good enough ; let it 
be a " surprise story " if possible. 

While children write, pass from seat to seat help- 
ing individuals according to each one's need. Some 
are perhaps finding it difficult to begin : one does 
not quite understand what is required ; another can- 
not decide on the word to write first ; a third cannot 
bring himself to choose between the subjects sug- 
gested. Start each one by just the question or 
suggestion that fits his particular need. 

If a few need more help, as they may, to develop 



236 TEACHER'S MANUAL 

and arrange their thought, give this help largely 
through suggestive questions. Require the child to 
answer in complete sentences. Question in such 
order that the answers, written down, will make a 
complete and interesting story. 

After papers are completed and corrected by the 
children, with such help as you may find it necessary 
to give, have some of them read and discussed. 
Let the papers read be as different as possible. 
They will suggest to the children ideas that they 
might have used, ideas that they may use on some 
future occasion. 

Several periods may be profitably spent on this 
section. Some pupils may be able — and should be 
encouraged — to write on two or more of the sug- 
gested subjects, while others are working out and 
perfecting a single story. 



CHAPTER ELEVEN 

The work of this chapter calls for the use of all 
the knowledge and power that have grown out of 
all the previous work. All the various exercises of 
previous chapters — reproductions, oral and written, 
dramatizing, telling and writing original fables, 
picture stories, poem study, the use of all ma/ks of 
punctuation already studied — are continued with 
new and interesting material ; increased demands 
are made upon the children to exercise their grow- 
ing power and independence, to express their in- 
dividualities. 

The distinctly new work of the chapter consists 
of the following : 

1. Making a story from an outline ; oral and written ex- 
ercises. 

2. Letter writing. 

I (251). Making" a Story from an Outline 

This is an oral lesson, the first one of the kind. 
The work on original fables in the preceding chapter 
has prepared the pupils for it. This goes a step 
farther than the fable work in its demand for origi- 
nality, for the "use of the constructive imagination. 

Study the whole lesson through with the children 
so that they will understand clearly what is to be 

237 



238 TEACHER'S MANUAL 

done, and that the scenes and events suggested by 
the paragraph headings may begin to shape them- 
selves in the children's minds into a connected 
whole — which is to be expanded into a story. 
Then help the children to work the story out and 
to express it, paragraph by paragraph. Remember 
that it is their imagination, thought, and expression 
that are to be exercised, and that you are merely to 
help. This does not mean that you need not ex- 
ercise the same faculties. On the contrary, you 
must at least equal the combined mental activities 
of all your children ; for you must be quick to ap- 
preciate every mental picture, every idea, every ex- 
pression that they suggest. 

Paragraph I. Talk over this paragraph with the children until 
every one has a vivid mental picture of the burning house, the 
flames and smoke, the frightened people, the firemen with hose 
and ladders thinking that, while the house is gone past their power 
to save, every one who was in it is safe. Probably most children 
have had experiences that can be drawn upon in building up the 
desired mental picture. 

Paragraphs II and III These paragraphs, which should be 
largely made up of exclamations, give excellent opportunity for 
the children to apply what they learned in the last chapter about 
exclamations and exclamation marks. 

Get the children to give a large number of exclamations that 
the child might use, and have a child, or children, write and 
punctuate them correctly on the board. Some of these might be : 
" O Mother ! Mother ! " — " Mother, help me ! " — " Come quick, 
Mother, I am burning I " — " Help, Mother, help ! " — " Take me 
down, take me down ! " 



MAKING A STORY FROM AN OUTLINE 239 

In the same way have them give and write on the board the 
excited and horrified cries of the people, the firemen, the mother 
(if she is there ; perhaps she will not appear on the scene until the 
fireman has tried in vain to rescue the child). 

When a sufficient number of exclamatory expressions have been 
secured, have the children select the few that they will use in 
each paragraph and give these their proper setting with a few ex- 
planatory words. 

Paragraph IV. This paragraph must paint a most vivid picture, 
must convey the tense excitement of the crowd, the desperate 
efforts of the fireman ; there will be smoke and flame ; perhaps a 
tottering ladder and crashing timbers ; a fireman badly burned 
and almost suffocated ; perhaps the fireman cries out his failure : 
" It's no use ! The child can't be saved ! " 

Paragraph V. What does the mother cry out as she rushes into 
the burning building? What are the cries of the onlookers? Get 
a large number and have them written on the board as before. 
Then select a few and make into a paragraph. 

Paragraph VI. Is the mother burned? Is the baby saved and 
unharmed ? What is said and done ? Work for a good sentence 
to end the story. 

Well handled, pupils can hardly fail to get into 
the spirit of the exercise, to become filled with clear 
thoughts, vivid pictures, strong feelings that they 
want to express; this is the first requisite in speak- 
ing or writing — something to express. The second 
requisite is effective expression. This you have 
been working out with the children, paragraph by 
paragraph. It is now time to begin at the begin- 
ning and tell the whole story connectedly. Let the 
teacher do this first, varying at will the expressions 
and exclamations already discussed, but being care- 



240 TEACHER'S MANUAL 

ful to make a concise, well-connected story. Fol- 
lowing the teacher, let several pupils tell the story. 
Encourage originality, variation in detail, only have 
the outline followed. Also insist on brevity. 

II (252). Writing a Story from an Outline 

As pupils write the story they should keep their 
books open before them at the outline given in the 
previous lesson, and write paragraph by paragraph. 
Give your undivided attention to the children, pass- 
ing from one to another to see that every one is 
working intelligently, and to give a bit of help, by 
question or suggestion, where needed. 

Keep constantly before them the idea that they 
must think just what they are going to write, word for 
word, before they begin a sentence. Ask individual 
pupils frequently to tell you just what they are going 
to write in a given sentence and in a given paragraph. 
Encourage them to whisper or even to speak softly 
to themselves the words they are to use if they find 
that this helps them to think clearly. 

Do not hurry the children. Some will think and 
write much more readily and quickly than others ; 
do not hold these up as examples, as standards that 
all should reach. It often happens that the results 
of these rapid workers are poor or mediocre. What 
needs most to be emphasized is careful thought. 
Dawdling must not be tolerated ; but every one — 
the slow as well as the quick thinker — should be 



WRITING A STORY FROM AN OUTLINE 241 

encouraged to take the time that he needs to think 
out to his own satisfaction what he wishes to write. 
Pupils who cannot finish their stories in a single 
period should put aside their papers and continue it 
at a second or even, if necessary, a third period. 
The object is not the completion of the exercise, 
hut the writing by the children of the best stories of 
which they are capable. 

Every child should succeed in this exercise; 
every child should complete a connected story. 
The child's future work depends upon his success 
or failure at this point. If he succeeds now, and 
knows and feels that he succeeds, even though his 
production may be poor in itself, he will advance to 
the next step with courage and confidence and build 
a second larger success on this first one. If he fails 
now, if he is allowed to leave the exercise without 
having completed a story, if he knows and feels that 
he has failed, he has the whole weight of this failure, 
in the shape of discouragement, dislike, and indiffer- 
ence, to handicap whatever efforts you may induce 
him to make in future. Always insist on success ; 
never permit a failure. If anything like a failure 
occurs, do not allow it to be left as a failure ; see 
that it is buried under a success. 

Correcting papers. 

If you are active, as already suggested, while 
pupils are writing, they can make most of the cor- 



242 TEACHER'S MANUAL 

rections necessary in their papers while they write. 
You can anticipate most of their errors and then see 
that they are corrected at the right time — before 
they are actually made. 

It will do little good — probably will do positive 
harm — for you to correct pupils' papers alone, hand 
them back to them, and require them to note the 
errors and corrections, and perhaps to rewrite their 
stories as corrected. Their greatest difficulty is in 
thinking clearly, in deciding exactly what they are 
going to say, and not primarily in the form of expres- 
sion. True, confused thought or lack of thought 
will reveal itself in the expression; but merely cor- 
recting the expression on paper — with a child ten 
years of age — will rarely help the child. You must 
get back to his real difficulty, you must personally, 
face to face with the child, make him think clearly; 
then he will write clearly. Correcting the child's 
written errors will improve the particular production ; 
helping the child to think will insure better produc- 
tions in future. 

Children cannot write this story from memory. 
It was not the purpose of the oral lesson to enable 
them to do this. The purpose of that lesson was to 
prepare the pupils to think out the story, each one 
for himself, before writing; to think out exactly 
each sentence before beginning to write it. You 
are anticipating — and so best correcting — the 
errors that might later appear on their papers, when 



"THE KING'S DREAM" 243 

you compel them to think before writing. Let the 
child who is prone to err tell you exactly what he 
proposes to write. Then let him answer to you 
these questions: (1) Where are you going to begin 
that paragraph ? (2) Why? (3) With what kind 
of letter will you begin it? (4) Why? (5) What 

mark will you place after ? When you come 

around to that child again in a few moments, you 
can see at a glance whether he has done what he 
proposed to do. Probably his work will be cor- 
rect ; if not, a question will make him think and 
enable him to correct it. 

Every moment of this patient, insistent, unremit- 
ting, close-range, detailed, and individual work with 
the children is being built into right habits of 
thought and expression, just as truly as the general 
effort to teach language to a class as a whole 
fosters the growth of carelessness and indifference. 
Individual pupils, not classes, learn to use language. 

Ill (253). "The King's Dream" 

In reading this story with the children, see that 
the various feelings of the king and his wise men, 
as well as the ideas, are adequately expressed. Let 
the children read it as a dialogue. 

After the children have studied by themselves the 
questions on the story, ask them these and other 
questions that will bring out the full meaning of the 
story and prepare for its dramatization. 



244 



TEACHER'S MANUAL 



IV (256). Dramatizing the Story 

If the children have been allowed from the begin- 
ning, as repeatedly directed, to assume more and 
more responsibility and to take the initiative in- 
creasingly in dramatizing, they should now be able 
to plan and carry out the dramatization of a simple 
story like this with very little help from the teacher. 
The preparation which the last lesson gave ought 
to enable them to try it with confidence. 

To stimulate a little wholesome rivalry, divide 
your class into two groups. Let each group plan 
the dramatization, assigning parts. Every child can 
be used in some capacity, as soldier or wise man. 
When the groups are ready, let one after the other 
give the little play. Perhaps a few children will be 
reserved for an impartial audience, who will dis- 
cuss, at the close, the relative merits of the two 
productions. 

V (256). Oral Reproduction of the Story 

Without further preparation the children should 
be able to tell this story. Work for brief, fluent, 
straightforward, thoughtful, expressive reproduc- 
tions. A reproduction must not be allowed to de- 
generate into a mere test of memory, even largely 
word memory. A reproduction, like an original 
story, should be the result of active, discriminating 
thought appropriately expressed. 



SUPPLEMENTARY WORK 245 

Supplementary Work 

i. Tell the children the story below, The Two 
Doctors, which teaches the same lesson as The 
Kings Dream. After a single telling let the chil- 
dren dramatize, if possible without aid or sugges- 
tion from you. Perhaps the same two groups that 
dramatized The Kings Dream will take charge 
of this dramatization in rivalry. 

The Two Doctors 

Once upon a time a king was ill. He sent for the wisest two 
doctors in the land. They felt his pulse and looked at his tongue. 
Then the first doctor spoke. 

" O king," he said, " you do not exercise enough. You should 
give up your carriage and walk, and you should play games or 
work every day." 

"What ! " cried the angry king, " give up my carriage ! Walk ! 
Play games ! Work ! I will have none of your advice ! Leave 
my court at once, and be thankful you take your head with you ! " 

The second doctor said : " Your case is a very strange one, O 
king. Let me study it until to-morrow. Then I will tell you 
what must be done." 

Next day the doctor returned. He gave the king a silver cup, 
a spade with a golden handle, and a ball. 

" O king," he said, " a mile from your palace is a spring of 
magic water. Every morning before breakfast walk to this spring 
and fill the silver cup from its waters and drink. The magic 
water will soon make you well again. 

" After breakfast take this magic spade and dig for one hour in 
the fairy glen back of your palace garden. If you will do this for 
one year, you will become very rich. 

" In the afternoon take the ball I have given you (it is stuffed 
with magic medicine) into the court and toss it one hundred times 



246 TEACHER'S MANUAL 

to one of your little pages. If you will do this, you will live for 
many years." 

" You are indeed a wise doctor," cried the king. " I will do all 
you say, for you have promised me health, wealth, and long life. 
As a small reward for your good advice, I will make you my doctor 
for life and pay you a thousand pieces of gold every year." 

— A Story from India. 

2. Have the children reproduce the story, The 
Two Doctors. 

3. Let the children dramatize The Two Doctors. 
They should need little or no aid. 

VI (257). Dates 

Study the questions about the dates with the 
children. Make sure that every child understands 
what the numbers mean, the number immediately 
after the name of the month and the number of the 
year. 

As the pupils write their own dates, inspect their 
work, and have them correct any errors at once. 
Let them give reasons for any changes that they 
have to make. 

VII (258). Writing Dates from Dictation 

Have the children write several dates from dicta- 
tion, one or more in each month. Let them correct 
their work at the time. Few mistakes should be 
made. 

This lesson is in preparation for letter writing. 



HOW TO WRITE A LETTER 247 

VIII (258). How to Write a Letter 

Before taking up this lesson with the children, read 
the two following lessons in the pupils' book and in 
this Manual, so that you may understand the full 
plan of these first lessons in letter writing. Perhaps 
a word of explanation will help you to appreciate 
this plan still more, and so to carry it out more 
effectively. 

The first purpose — as in all language work — is 
to arouse the pupils' interest, to stimulate their 
thought about things that they know and like, to 
make expression seem natural, desirable, and useful. 
Hence the story involving a real child's letter, ex- 
pressed in a child's language, and with childish en- 
thusiasm, and filled with things that interest all 
children. The letter is, of course, correct in form, 
but the content — as in every letter worth while — 
is more important than the form. The letter re- 
quires, suggests an answer. Children feel at once 
that they can, and so they want to reply to it. In 
doing so they observe the form, not as the main pur- 
pose of the letter, but merely as the form that a good 
letter should have. In this way they are learning at 
the outset the proper relation of form and content. 
They are learning correct form much more surely 
and easily than they could if their attention were 
mainly directed to this, as is almost inevitably the 
case when classic letters of well-known authors are 



248 TEACHER'S MANUAL 

used as models. The content of such letters, written 
to or for children, not by them, is usually unreal, 
unchildlike, lacking in power to arouse children's 
interests and to stimulate their imagination. Hence, 
the form receives undue emphasis, and children con- 
ceive a distaste for letter writing. 

Read the story with the children and take up with 
them the study of the letter, following the questions 
and explanations given in their book. 

The address on the form of the envelope given 
in the pupils' book (p. 258) is a type that the pupils 
may copy. Study it with them, having them note 
the four periods, the only marks used, all indicating 
abbreviations. 

The two forms of headings (p. 261) should also be 
carefully studied with the pupils. Lead them to 
notice all the marks of punctuation and to see the 
reasons for each. 

(Form I.) There is a comma to separate the 
name of the town from the name of the state, and 
another comma to separate the whole address from 
the date. There are periods after JV. J. because 
N. J. is the abbreviation for New Jersey. 

The writing of dates the children have already 
learned. 

All words in the heading begin with capitals; 
they are all names. 

(Form II.) This is the same as Form I except 
the first and additional line. The comma separates 



LETTER WRITING 249 

the name of the avenue or street from the name of 
the city; the period after Ave. marks the abbrevia- 
tion for Avenue. The name of the state, Michigan, 
as in Form /, is abbreviated. The abbreviation, 
Mick., has a period after it. 

Pupils should be held to the strict observance 
of the forms given in their book until they have 
learned to write them without error. It will be 
time for them to learn the variations of these 
forms — variations mainly in punctuation and ab- 
breviation — that are quite correct and in current 
use, when they can write the given forms with 
confidence. 

Writing the Mechanical Forms 

1. Have every pupil, some on the blackboards, 
others on paper, write the correct heading of a let- 
ter written from his 6w r n home. 

2. Let pupils study the address on the envelope 
of Dick's letter, then write the correct heading for 
a letter written by Tom. 

These exercises should be done quickly, in- 
spected, and any necessary corrections made at 
once by the pupils. 

IX (262). Letter Writing {Continued) 

Read over the story with the children. The 
" thinking and wishing " of Tom is given in detail 
to let the children see what things would naturally 
be touched on in Tom's letter to Dick. These 



250 TEACHER'S MANUAL 

things are repeated again when Tom tells his 
mother what he will write. 

Keep referring to Dick's letter when Mother 
refers Tom to it. Let the children look back and 
answer for Tom. Have them tell exactly what 
they will write ; as, the heading — 

25 Walnut St., 

Louisville, Ky., 
May 11, 1912. 



The next thing 



Dear Dick : 



The first paragraph — 

I will tell you how I got hurt. I was running to school, etc. — 

The rest of the letter — 

I thank you for your kind invitation to visit you. I am coming 
as soon as I can travel. I want to know all about your pets. 
Is Rover a big dog? Where do Mrs. White and her kittens 
live ? etc. — 

» 

Have children tell individually just what each 

will write. 

Have several tell how they will end the letter, 
as: 

When I am strong I will show you what a fine swimmer and 
diver I am. 

Your loving cousin, 
Tom. 



WRITING A LETTER TO A FRIEND 251 

Next summer I will show you that there is no better swimmer 

than 

Your loving cousin, 

Tom." 

When my leg is strong again we will have a swimming match. 

Your cousin, 
Tom. 

Have several good endings written on the black- 
board. 

X (264). Answering a Letter 

You are to be Tom's mother. In the story she 
prepared the way for a good letter. While the chil- 
dren are writing, pass from desk to desk asking ques- 
tions, making suggestions to see that the pupils are 
really writing an interesting letter. There may not 
be much variety in the letters, but they should all 
be interesting and correct in form. Use the letter 
Dick wrote as the type, referring the children back 
to it for any needed corrections in form. 

Have them write the address for the envelope 
either on a real envelope or on a square or oblong- 
drawn on the backs of their papers. Here they 
should write Dick's full name — 

Mr. Richard Brown 
Harrisburg 
III. 

XI (265). Writing a Letter to a Friend 

Have each pupil write a letter to a friend asking 
the friend to spend next Saturday afternoon with 



252 



TEACHER'S MANUAL 



the writer. Each letter should tell just what the 
writer wants to show the visitor, what they will play, 
what they will do, etc. Talk over the proposed 
letters with the children. Have them tell you just 
what they are going to say. Do not let them write 
a word till they know and have expressed orally just 
what they want to say. A whole language period 
might be well spent in this oral preparation for the 
written letters. 

When the pupils are ready to write, let them use 
as a type the letter Dick wrote to Tom. Have each 
child write to another child in the class — to a child 
he would really like to have spend Saturday after- 
noon with him. See that every child has a letter 
written to him. By questions and suggestions as 
they write help them to avoid and to correct errors. 

XII (265). Answering" a Friend's Letter 

Give the letters written in the last lesson to the 
pupils to whom they are addressed. Let each child 
answer his letter. 

While they write, pass from seat to seat helping 
them, as Tom's mother helped him, by questions 
and suggestions, to make good replies. 

XIII (265). A Fable to Study 

This fable is a type after which pupils are to tell 
and write other fables. In order that they may do 
this intelligently and correctly, they must master 



MAKING NEW FABLES 253 

the type — the mechanical form as well as the 
story. 

Have pupils tell orally just why each capital and 
each mark of punctuation is used. For variety ask 
questions as follows : 

Which words in the title begin with capitals because they are 
important words in the title ? What other word in the title begins 
with a capital ? Why ? 

How many paragraphs in this fable? How do you know? 

In the first paragraph how many sentences are there? How 
do you know? How many of these sentences are statements? 
How do you know? 

In the second paragraph how many sentences? What kind of 
sentences are these? How do you know? Give two reasons why 
" Dear" begins with a capital letter. Why is there a comma after 
"Mrs. Crow"? What abbreviation is used in this fable? Read 
the whole quotation in the second paragraph. 

Why is the apostrophe used in " fox's " ? Read the state- 
ments in the third paragraph. What other kind of sentence is 
used in this paragraph? Read it. 

In the last paragraph why are commas used before and after 
"Mrs. Crow"? Where is there another comma in this para- 
graph ? Why is it used ? Read the quotation in the last para- 
graph. 

XIV (266). Writing a Fable from Dictation 

Dictate the* fable, The Fox and the Crow. 
Have pupils correct mistakes as usual under your 
direction. 

XV (266). Making New Fables 

Study with the pupils the analysis of the fable of 
The Fox and the Crow as given in their book. 



254 



TEACHER'S MANUAL 



Make sure that they clearly understand the content 
and significance of each paragraph — its relation to 
the complete fable. This perfect understanding is 
the necessary basis of the original fables which they 
are to make. 

Discuss with the children the suggestions for the 
new fables, having them complete the outlines, and 
suggest a variety of ways in which the fables may 
be worked out in each paragraph. 

What does one animal say to the other to flatter 
him and make him let go his prize ? The cat might 
say to the kingfisher : " Let me hear your sweet 
voice." — " How can you open your beak so wide ! " 
— "I once saw a wonderful sight. A bird threw a 
fish up in the air and caught it in her beak ! I be- 
lieve you could do that ! " — " What a big fish for 
you to carry ! But I believe you could carry a 
larger one still. Just open your beak as wide as 
you can ! " 

What does the flatterer say at the end about the 
folly of listening to flatterers ? The wolf might say 
to the bear : " Your teeth are sharper than your 
wits." — " Strong teeth may catch a lamb, but only 
good sense can keep it." — "Never listen to a 
flatterer and you may keep your lamb as well as 
catch it," 

After the possibilities of the various suggested 
fables have been revealed to the children by this 
discussion, give them a few minutes for thought in 



WRITING A FABLE 255 

which each one shall select the fable that he will 
tell and think just how he will tell it. The fables 
should be told briefly and fluently. Each should 
be complete and pointed. The last fable suggested 
might be something like this. 

The Weasel and the Fox 

One day a weasel stole a chicken and ran with it to the woods. 
A fox saw the chicken and planned to get it. 

" Why, Mr. Weasel," said the fox, " how did you ever catch 
that chicken? How could you creep up so softly that it never 
heard you? Please show me how you did it." 

The weasel felt flattered. He dropped the chicken and crept 
softly over the ground. "This is how I did it," he said. 

When he turned around the fox was just swallowing the last of 
the chicken. " How silly you are, Mr. Weasel ! " said the fox. 
"You should know better than to listen to flatterers." 

XVI (268). Writing a Fable 

Pupils who choose to write from any of the out- 
lines given in the last lesson should be able to do 
so with little help, as those fables have already been 
discussed and told orally. Any child who chooses 
an original title, however, should have attention. 
It will probably be well to have such a child at least 
outline his story to you before he begins to write. 
As pupils write encourage them to refer to the type 
fable (p. 265) whenever they seem to need such 
assistance as they can get from that fable. 

In having papers corrected, pay attention not 



256 TEACHER'S MANUAL 

simply to mechanical errors, but especially to the 
content — the character of the story and the moral 
that it is intended to teach. 

Supplementary Work 

1. Let children tell fables similar to those out- 
lined in XV, but varying them by having the flat- 
terer outwitted. Following are examples : 

The crow may eat her cheese, then say, " Ah, Mr. Fox, I am 
not so easily flattered. I know I cannot sing well." 

The kingfisher may say, as he clutches the fish in his talons, 
" Excuse me till I take this fish to my little ones ; then I will 
gladly sing for you." 

The bear may hold the lamb with a firm paw while he bares 
his teeth. 

The owl may hold the mouse in his talons while he answers 
the cat. 

After talking over with children various possible 
endings of this kind, let them write fables with 
similar endings. 

2. Write the following titles on the board. Chil- 
dren tell what the first-mentioned animal had, and 
how the second secured or attempted to secure it. 

The Hawk and the Cat 
The Fox and the Wolf 
The Hawk and the Eagle 
The Goose and the Fox 
The Cat and the Dog 

3. Write the following titles on the board. 
Pupils tell who tried to take the kid from the wolf, 



"AMERICA" 257 

the mouse from the cat, etc. ; how he tried, and how 
he succeeded. 

The Wolf and the Kid 
The Cat and the Mouse 
The Mouse and the Cheese 
The Robin and the Worm 
The Dog and the Bone 

4. Let pupils write original fables that teach the 
lessons taught by fables 3 and 11, Chapter Twelve. 

XVII (269). "America" 

Before taking up the detailed study of the poem 
with the children, read it to them — perhaps several 
times — with expression and feeling. Read it so 
that they will feel as well as understand its meaning ; 
indeed, only by feeling can they fully understand it. 

Then study it with them, line by line, and stanza 
by stanza. You may need to give further explana- 
tions and illustrations than those in the children's 
book. For instance, foreign children may need to 
be told that the author, Dr. Smith, was born in 
America; hence he wrote, "My native country," 
etc. Even in this detailed study do not fail to rely 
largely on expressive rendering for the conveyance 
of the full meaning, which is often beyond ex- 
planation. 

When the children understand and appreciate the 
meaning of the song, — as fully as they are capable 
of understanding and appreciating it, — have them 



258 TEACHER'S MANUAL 

memorize it. If some already know it perfectly, let 
those prepare to write it from memory — by study- 
ing the capitals, the punctuation, and the arrange- 
ments of stanzas and lines. 

Require the children to stand whenever the 
anthem is sung. This will do much to inspire, 
to associate with it appropriate feelings of pride, 
patriotism, and reverence. 

Supplementary Work 

Tell the children something of the author of 
America. Tell them of the time and circumstance 
of his writing the song. Read to them what Oliver 
Wendell Holmes says of him in his poem, The 
Boys. 

XVIII (274). Writing "America" from Memory 

This exercise may be given in . regular language 
periods, — it will probably require more than one 
for most children, — or it may be done in study 
periods as individual pupils have time for it. The 
object is to have every child learn the hymn per- 
fectly. No child has completed this lesson until 
he can write the whole poem without error. And 
every child should study it and write it until he 
has thus mastered it. Only make the children feel 
a pride in this achievement and it will soon be ac- 
complished. 



MORE PICTURE STORIES 259 

XIX (274). Picture Stories 

(Child drifting in boat, p. 273) 

The picture tells the story so clearly and fully 
that children should be able to write it without help. 
Have them correct their work as usual, not only for 
form, but for content and effective presentation. 

Supplementary Work 

i. Let the story be written from the standpoint 
of the person in the boat, only the prow of which 
shows in the picture at the right. 

2. Have stories written from any of the pictures 
in Chapters One to Five. These pictures have 
served only for oral stories. 

XX (274). More Picture Stories 

(Animated toys, p. 275) 

There are many stories of toys that talked and 
acted like real folks when everybody was asleep. 
Tell the children one or more of these stories — you 
will find them in almost any book of fairy tales. 
Two of the best are The Ti7i Soldier and The 
Money Pig, by Hans Christian Andersen. 

Now tell the children that many story-tellers have 
written stories of toys who could live and act and 
talk like real people from twelve at midnight until 
they heard the first cock crow in the morning. 
Then let them write the story this picture tells. 



CHAPTER TWELVE 

The stories and rhymes given in Chapter Twelve 
of the pupils' book may be used in a great variety 
of ways. In general they will serve two purposes. 
First, they may be used as needed in connection with 
lessons in preceding chapters. They furnish further 
opportunities, varied and interesting, for reproduc- 
tions, conversations, dramatizations, written exercises 
of various kinds, and drill in all mechanical forms. 

The second general purpose which this material 
is designed to serve is that of reviewing and testing. 
Comparisons will show that these twelve stories and 
rhymes contain all the forms of punctuation and the 
use of capitals, that have been taught in preceding 
chapters, and no others. They also furnish the 
basis for all kinds of exercises, oral and written, that 
have been subjects of study. 

The following suggestions for the use of this 
material, both to supplement and to review and test 
preceding work, though quite numerous, by no 
means exhaust the possibilities. 

I. Suggestions for Using the Stories and Rhymes 

1 (276). The Proud Crow. 

Several uses that may be made of this story : 
1. To test pupils' knowledge of the use of the 

260 



SUGGESTIONS FOR USING STORIES AND RHYMES 261 

capital and period. In this case the story should be 
written from dictation without previous study. 

2. The story may be enlarged by supplying more 
details. As a help to this exercise read the com- 
plete story of the proud crow as given in SEsop's 
Fables, or — if it is to be dramatized — as told in 
the Aldine Second Reader. 

3. After being enlarged or after the complete 
story has been told or read, it may be dramatized. 

4. This story may be made the basis of exercises 
supplementing the work on quotations in any 
chapter. 

The children may write quotations on the board, 
or on paper, telling what the crow said when he 
found the feathers ; what he said to the other crows ; 
what he said to the peacocks ; their answer ; what 
the crows finally said to the proud crow. 

The exercise may be handled somewhat as follows 
with good results. Have the pupils give orally the 
complete sentence, as: 

The crow said, " What fine feathers." 

The teacher writes the sentence on the board, 
omitting all marks of punctuation. 
She then proceeds as follows : 

Is any one speaking? Who? What does the crow say? Put 
your hands around the words the crow speaks. What marks 
should be placed where your hands are? (Put in the quotation 
marks.) Read the quotation. Read the rest of the sentence. 
What mark shall I use to separate the quotation from the rest of 



262 TEACHER'S MANUAL 

the sentence? (Put the comma in the right place.) What maik 
shall I put at the end of the sentence? Why? (End sentence 
with a period.) 

In a similar way the remaining quotations may 
be written and studied. There is no way more 
effective for giving children a real understanding of 
quotations and the correct use of quotation marks. 

Stories 2 and 4 (276). 

These stories may be used in ways similar to 
those just suggested. 

3 (276)! The First Fountain. 

This story may be used (1) as a study lesson on 
capitals, the period, and the question mark ; (2) as 
a copying exercise ; (3) as a studied dictation ; (4) 
as an unstudied dictation ; (5) for oral or written 
reproduction. 

Rhymes 5, 6, 7, 8, 9 (277-278). 

These rhymes may be copied by the children ; or 
they may be memorized and then written from 
memory. 

Rhyme 5 (277). In addition to the uses given 
above, this rhyme forms the basis of a good drill in 
questions and statements. Teacher dictates the 
question : 

" Where did an old woman live ? " 

Pupils write the question dictated. Then they 
answer the question, first, aloud, so that the teacher 



SUGGESTIONS FOR USING STORIES AND RHYMES 263 

may make sure that they answer with a complete 
statement. Should a child say, " In a shoe," the 
teacher asks, " Who lived in a shoe ? " or some other 
question that will bring the complete statement, 
" An old woman lived in a shoe." When a satis- 
factory statement has been obtained, the children 
write it under the question. 

Teacher dictates, — " Did she live alone? " 

Pupils write the question and supply an answer, as, " She had 
many children." 

Teacher dictates, — " How many children had she ? " 

Pupils write the question and supply the answer, as, " She had 
so many children she did not know what to do." 

The answers to the questions read : 

An old woman lived in a shoe. 

She had many children. 

She had so many children she did not know what to do. 

Note that the answers form a unit, a complete 
story. The teacher's conscious aim at this result 
determined her questions and the satisfactory an- 
swers of the children. A similar purpose — that 
of securing connected and complete thought — 
should dominate and determine practically all 
language exercises, oral and w T ritten, no matter what 
minor and immediate purposes these exercises may 
be designed to serve. Every exercise of this kind 
is training the child in sustained, purposeful thought, 
in thought that gets somewhere. Much use of 



264 TEACHER'S MANUAL 

miscellaneous, unconnected sentences is positively 
demoralizing. 

Rhyme 6 (277). Tell pupils the following story: 

Little Bo- Peep 

One day Bo-Peep drove her sheep into the meadow. Then 
she sat down to rest. Soon she fell fast asleep. 

When she awoke, it was nearly dark. Not a sheep was in sight. 
Every one had run away. 

This story may be used as follows : 

1. Pupils may reproduce it, (a) orally; (b) in 
writing. 

2. It may be given as an unstudied dictation ex- 
ercise. 

Pupils should be expected to reproduce it in writ- 
ing or to write it from dictation only after it is rea- 
sonably sure that they can spell all the words. They 
may have mastered these in previous study of the 
rhyme, Little Bo-Peep. 

3. Have the children tell or write original quota- 
tions telling what Bo- Peep said when she drove her 
sheep into the meadow (" Here, little sheep, is good 
sweet grass. Eat all you want," said Bo- Peep) ; 
what she said when she sat down to rest ("I am so 
tired. I will rest for a little while," said Bo-Peep) ; 
what she said when she awoke and found it was 
getting dark ; what she said when she found her 
sheep were gone. If this is to be a written exercise, 
have the pupils give each sentence aloud before 
writing it. 



SUGGESTIONS FOR USING STORIES AND RHYMES 265 

4. Let the children tell or write original stories 
of what happened to the sheep. Where were they ? 
Did they have a good time ? Did they come back 
to Bo-Peep or did she have to find them ? Did Bo- 
Peep ever lose her sheep again ? 

5. The story of Bo-Peep may be dramatized. 
Rhyme 7 (277). This rhyme is given in dialogue 

form. 

1. Have the children rewrite it in complete sen- 
tences, using quotations. 

The dog said, " Bow, wow, wow ! " 

The man said, " " 

The dog answered, " ..." 

2. Have pupils tell or write a story telling why 
the man spoke to the dog, where the dog was, and 
what happened, something like this : 

One day a man saw a little dog limping down the street. 
(What had happened to the little dog? How was he hurt?) 

The man said, " Poor little doggie, come here." 

The little dog crept to the man's feet and held up his lame 
paw. 

" You poor little dog," said the man again. " I wonder whose 
dog you are ? " 

The little dog barked. He tried to say, " I am little Tommy 
Tucker's dog." 

Did the man understand the dog? What did he do for the 
dog? End the story, telling how the dog got back to his little 
master. 

3. Have the pupils tell the story orally or in 
writing as the dog might tell it. 



266 TEACHER'S MANUAL 

Rhyme 8 (277). 1. After the pupils have studied 
the rhyme by copying, studying aloud or silently the 
spelling, punctuation, and capitalization, or after the}/ 
have written it from memory, dictate as follows: 

This little pig said, " I went to market." 
" I stayed at home," cried this little pig. 
This little pig said, " I had roast beef." 
" I had none," cried this little pig. 

2. Let the pupils make up stories with these 
titles: 

(a) Why the First Little Pig Went to Market 

(J?) Why the Second Little Pig Stayed at Home 

\c) Why the Third Little Pig had Roast Beef 

(d) Why the Fourth Little Pig had None 

(e) How the Fifth Little Pig got Lost 

Let each pupil select one of the above subjects 
and make up the story about it. 

Rhyme 9 (278). After the rhyme has been 
learned, ask such questions as: 

What do you think of a boy who would eat a Christmas pie 
alone ? Why did he go off into a corner by himself? (That nc 
one might see him and ask for a piece?) What do you think o: 
his manners? (He put in his thumb and pulled out a plum.^ 
Was he a great boy ? What kind of a boy was he ? (A greedy 
rude boy.) 

Now let the pupils tell or write the story of 
Jack Homer, the Greedy Boy. 

Once there was a little boy named Jack Horner. He was £ 
very greedy boy. One time he had a fine Christmas pie given tc 
him. It was a big pie, just full of juicy plums. 



SUGGESTIONS FOR USING STORIES AND RHYMES 267 

What did he do? What did he say? Was he punished for 
being so greedy and so rude ? How? 

10 (278). The Fable of the Wolf and the Goat. 

1. Study aloud for spelling, punctuation, and 
capitalization; or have pupils study alone, perhaps 
copying. 

2. Dictate after study. 

3. If (1) and (2) are omitted, dictate to test the 
pupils' knowledge of the language forms used in the 
fable. 

4. Have the fable reproduced, either orally or in 
writing, after one reading. 

5. Have the children make original fables con- 
taining the same teaching, using this fable as a type 
form. Here are a few suggestions : 

(a) The Cat and the Robin 

Robin looking for insects in tree ; cat tells him to come down, 
as there are many good fat worms in the grass ; robin answers, 
" I would rather have little insects than be eaten by you." 

(b) The Fox and the Hen 

Hen roosting high on a dead tree ; fox tells her the wind is 
strong and cold ; asks her to come into his warm den. Finish by 
telling hen's answer. 

(V) Have the children find other titles and make original fables 
from them. 

6. Change the stories, having the robin listen 
to the cat, the hen to the fox. Let fables be 



268 TEACHER'S MANUAL 

finished with some such expression as, " It would 
have been better to rest in safety on the cold bough 
than to be eaten by a fox in his warm den." 

11 (278). The Fable of the Boys and the Frogs. 

1. The suggestions for the treatment of fable 10, 
The Wolf and the Goat, apply equally here. 

2. Have pupils write or tell these stories: 

(a) The story of a particular frog who had a child or a wife 
killed by a stone. 

(J?) The story one of the boys told his mother on his return, 
ending with the resolve of the boy never to stone frogs again. 

(V) The story of a dream one of the boys had — that he was 
a frog stoned by some boys. 

12 (278). The First Forget-Me-Not. 

For ways in which this story may be used see 
I, 2, 3, 4, under 10 (p. 267). 

Give pupils the story in the form of the poem. 

The Forget-Me-Not 

When to flowers so beautiful 

The Father gave a name, 
Back came a little blue-eyed one, — 

All timidly she came, — 
And standing at the Father's feet, 

And gazing on His face, 
She said in low and timid voice, — 

Yet with a gentle grace, — 
" Dear Lord, the name thou gavest me, 

Alas ! I have forgot ! " 
The Father kindly looked on her, 

And said, " Forget-Me-Not." 



POEMS FOR ADDITIONAL WORK 269 

This poem may be memorized by the children, 
then written from memory. 

Tell any other stories you may know of the origin 
of the forget-me-not. 

II. Poems for Additional Work 

The following carefully selected list of poems fur- 
nish varied and excellent material for use on many 
occasions and for different purposes. It is thought 
best not to attempt any definite directions for the 
use of these poems. You, the teacher, will be 
the best judge of this matter. What poems do you 
especially like ? Which ones do you think your 
children would appreciate ? Which one especially 
fits in with the work or the occasion ? Your answer 
to these and similar questions will determine the 
use that you will make of this material. 

Determining your course in this way you will 
probably make thorough study with the children of 
a considerable number of these poems ; many of 
them the children will commit to memory. Per- 
haps, first and last, you will at least read all of them 
to your class. They contain a wealth of literary 
material which may enrich the thought, the imagi- 
nation, the sentiments, and the choice vocabulary of 
pupils — or of any one — who will live with them 
sympathetically. 

The following brief and imperfect analysis and 
partial classification of these poems in accordance 



270 TEACHER'S MANUAL 

with several purposes which they may be made to 
serve will perhaps be of assistance. 

i. Poems of information. A few of the poems 
may be read on appropriate occasion for the sake of 
the information which they contain. For examples, 
12 in connection with history lessons; 15 when 
studying boy life among the Indians. The poetic 
form conveys the spirit as well as the mere fact. 

2. Story-telling poems. Every one of the first 
fifteen poems tells a story. The children may re- 
produce these stories in prose, either orally or in 
writing. If they are to write them, they should first 
study the printed or written poem, that they may 
master the spelling and any other forms that they 
may need to use. Poems that cannot be put be- 
fore the children in books may be written on the 
blackboard, or hektograph copies may be made. 

3. Poems that may serve as the basis of original 
work, such as 1, 3, 10, 11, 17. For example, after 
hearing 10, pupils may tell or write stories that 
the ghost fairies might tell. 

4. Nature poems. The poems 16-31 may be 
used in connection with many phases of nature 
study. 

5. Character-building poems, or poems that teach 
moral lessons. There will be no lack of occasions 
when some one of the following poems can be used 
to advantage: 2, 4-9, 14, 15, 38-42. 

6. Poems for dramatizing. Several of the nar- 



POEMS FOR ADDITIONAL WORK 271 

rative poems, like 2, 5, 6, 8, 9, 11, 15, furnish good 
material for dramatizing. Of course suitable prep- 
aration must be made by turning the story of the 
poem into a prose narrative, and telling it largely 
in the form of conversation between the several 
characters involved. 

7. Poems for memorizing. Any of the poems 
are worth memorizing. Encourage children to 
memorize those that especially appeal to them. 
Have each child memorize as many as he will 
voluntarily. 

1 . A Good Play Robert Louis Stevenson 

2. How the Leaves Come Down Susan Coolidge 

3. The Land of Story Books . Robert Louis Stevenson 

4. The Wind and the Moon . George Macdonald 

5. The Happiest Land . . . Henry Wadsworth Longfellow 

6. The Pied Piper of Hamelin . Robert Browning 

7. Lncy Gray; or, Solitude . . William Wordsworth 

8. Goody Blake and Harry Gill William Wordsworth 

9. The Leak in the Dike . . . Phoebe Cary 

10. Ghost Fairies ..... Frank Dempster Sherman 

11. Daisies Frank Dempster Sherman 

12. Paul Revere' s Ride . . . Henry Wadsworth Longfellow 

13. The Deacon's Masterpiece; 

or, the Wonderful One- 

Hoss Shay Oliver Wendell Holmes 

14. Little Red Riding Hood . . John Greenleaf Whittier 

15. How the Robin Came . . John Greenleaf Whittier 

16. April Fools Emily Huntington Miller 

17. Windy Nights Robert Louis Stevenson 

18. The Sojig of the Thrush . . Lucy Larcom 

19. The Blue Bird Emily Huntington Miller 



272 TEACHER'S MANUAL 

20. Down to Sleep Helen Hunt Jackson 

2 1 . Jack Frost ....... Hannah Gould 

22. Robert of Lincoln .... William Cullen Bryant 

23. Sweet Peas John Keats 

24. The Dove John Keats 

25. The Night Wind .... Eugene Field 

26. The Brook Alfred Tennyson 

27. The Throstle Alfred Tennyson 

28. The Rain Margaret Deland 

29. Another Blue Day .... Thomas Carlyle 

30. Wild Geese Celia Thaxter 

31. Winter Song Emily Huntington Miller 

32. A Dutch Lullaby .... Eugene Field 

33. Shadow-Town Ferry . . . L. D. Rice 

34. Lullaby to an Infant Child . Walter Scott 

35. A Norse Lullaby .... Eugene Field 

36. Sweet and Low Alfred Tennyson 

37. The Sandman Marie Van Vorst 

38. Pippa's Song (from " Pippa 

Passes ") Robert Browning 

39. Obedience Phoebe Cary 

40. He Prayeth Best (from 

" The Ancient Mariner ") Samuel Coleridge 

41. Work Alice Cary 

42. A Song of Easter .... Celia Thaxter 

43. Old Christmas Mary Howitt 

44. Christmas Bells .... Henry Wadsworth Longfellow 

III. Books 

The following brief list of books furnishes a fund 
of good literary material that children can use at 
once in the various exercises called for in their 

book, — in oral and written reproductions, in drama- 



BOOKS 273 

tizing, in turning conversational stories into dialogue 
form, in modelling " original " stories after type 
stories, in the making of outlines, etc. These are 
stories that children enjoy and appreciate, and 
readily assimilate. They may be told or read to 
the children by the teacher, or children may read 
or tell them — after preparation — in turn. This 
little library provides abundance of enjoyable silent 
reading, as individual pupils have time and in- 
clination. 

Adventures of a Brownie Mrs. D. M. Craik 

Adventures of Pinnochio, The . . . Carlo Lorenzini 

Alice in Wonderland ' . Lewis Carroll 

Animal Story Book, The Andrew Lang 

At the Back of the North Wind . . George McDonald 

Beautiful foe Marshall Saunders 

Book of Legends Horace Scudder 

Book of Saints and Friendly Beasts . Abbie F. Brown 

Celtic Fairy Tales Joseph Jacobs 

English Fairy Tales ....... Joseph Jacobs 

Fables ^Esop 

Fairy Tales Hans Christian Andersen 

Fifty Famous Stories Retold .... James Baldwin 

Five Minute Stories Laura E. Richards 

Household Fairy Tales Grimm Brothers 

Household Stories Grimm Brothers 

How to Tell Stories to Children . . Sara C. Bryant 

Jungle Book, The Rudyard Kipling 

fust So Stories Rudyard Kipling 

Little Lame Prince, The Mrs. D. M. Craik 

Little Lord Fauntleroy Mrs. F. H. Burnett 

Old Lndian Legends Zitkala-Sa 



274 TEACHER'S MANUAL 

Peterkin Papers, The L. P. Hale 

Pig Brother and Other Stories, The . Laura E. Richards 

Second Jungle Book, The Rudyard Kipling 

Sir Gibbie {parts) George Macdonald 

Snow Baby J. D. Peary 

Stories to Tell to Children .... Sara C. Bryant 

Twilight Land Howard Pyle 

Uncle Pemus Joel C Harris 

Water Babies Charles Kingsley 

Wonder Clock, The Howard Pyle 

Wonderful Adventures of Nils, The . Selma Lagerlof 



JAN 11 1?' 



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